TJ Review Winter 2017-2018 | Thomas Jefferson School

The TJ Review w i n t e r

2017 -2018

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W I N T E R

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Table of Contents FEATURES

4 Lift up the World with Beauty and Intellect Fulfilling TJ’s Mission

The Head of School Perspective

By Elizabeth Holekamp, Ph.D.

5 The Faculty Perspective

By Jim Pesek ‘99

6 The Alumni Perspective

By Michael Margulus ‘61

7 The Student Perspective

By Trey Wang ‘18

11 Commencement Address

By Cody Voellinger ‘01

16 Presentation of Diplomas

By Elizabeth Holekamp, Ph.D., Head of School, and Linda Mertz, President, TJ Board of Trustees

24 Remarks to The Class of 2017

By Chris Qian ‘18 and Zach Lottes ‘18

25 Celebrating the Achievements and Accomplishments of Our Students Speech by faculty member Boaz Roth

30 Beauty in Difference 48 How TJ Works 54 ...The Only Thing

By Boaz Roth

60 What Punctuation Do You Identify With and Why? 64 Alumni of Distinction 84 A Focus on Scholarship

By Kathleen Kelly, Director of Development

DEPARTMENTS 8 26 34 50 58 W WW. TJS.ORG

CLASS OF 2017: GRADUATION ALL-SCHOOL AWARDS TJ TODAY BOAR UPDATE CATCHING UP AT TJ

66 77 82 89 90

ALUMNI IN MEMORIAM SPIRIT OF PHILANTHROPY CREDITS SAVE-THE-DATE the tj review

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L I F T U P T H E W O R L D W I T H B E AU T Y A N D I N T E L L E C T: FULFILLING TJ’S MISSION

The Head of School Perspective

by Elizabeth Holekamp, Ph.D.

Dear Friends of TJ,

“… and a desire to lift up the world with beauty and intellect.”

Seven summers ago, as I was sweltering through the Texas heat and preparing for the next academic year at the school where I was working, the possibility of TJ dropped unexpectedly out of the August sky. A search for the next Head of School was underway, and a consultant contacted me to ask if I would be interested. At the time I was not looking to change jobs; however, this opportunity got my attention. I had recently been thinking that I might need to return to St. Louis in order to keep an eye on my aging parents, plus it wasn’t just any school calling, it was TJ—a place that had always intrigued me.

I had never seen anything like that in a school mission statement.

I grew up in St. Louis. I was already well acquainted with the school community here and had known about TJ for a long time (fun fact: while waiting to start his first job as an electrical engineer in 1946, my newlywed father worked on the crew that built the original tennis courts at TJ). Nevertheless, the first thing I did after hearing from the search consultant was to seek out the school’s mission statement.

I fervently hoped that it wouldn’t turn out to be one of those generic statements that could easily apply to any one of a number of schools!

I wasn’t disappointed: Thomas Jefferson School gives its students the strongest possible academic background through a classical education. Within a nurturing community, students develop a responsibility for their own learning and a desire to lift up the world with beauty and intellect. “… strongest possible academic background… a classical education… nurturing community…” Those words resonated with me, both personally and professionally. But the part of TJ’s mission statement that really captivated me was the final phrase:

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The phrase is powerfully aspirational. But for all its loftiness, in the context of today’s world it is also poignantly urgent. I firmly believe that now, more than ever, we must do all we can to instill in our students a “desire to lift up the world.” And we must work as hard as we can to help them develop the tools they will need for that.

We have two great advantages as we do this work: one is the brilliance of our students. They come to us with tremendous intellect—our duty is to develop it. The other advantage we have is the beautiful diversity within our student body—our obligation is to celebrate and sustain it. As we help our students build their minds and hearts, they will begin to envision themselves as agents of change for good. I have no doubt that they will, as they go forward, “lift up the world.”

As you read this issue of the TJ Review, I hope you will notice how this aspect of our mission is playing out. Beauty and intellect are foundational to the activities and accomplishments of our current students and shine brightly in the lives and achievements of our alumni. It is truly remarkable to see!

As always, in the spirit of ή άρετή,

Lisa Elizabeth L. Holekamp, Ph.D. Head of School W I N T E R

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THE TJ PERSPECTIVE

The Faculty Perspective

by Jim Pesek ‘99

As a college preparatory school, our purpose is to ready students for college and all that comes after. We focus on foundational knowledge as a basis for coming to understand the process of learning itself, enabling students to face any subject with the skills necessary to attain mastery. It is often said by recent alumni coming back for a visit that college is easier than TJ. But what is easier is not the material itself; rather, students spent their years at our school learning how to learn, easing the burden of all future study.

Preparing students for success in college and life thereafter is only part of our school’s mission, however. Success in life is important, but what matters just as much is what our students choose to do with the resources and opportunities granted to them by that success.

What does it mean “to lift up the world with beauty and intellect?”

This question can have no one set answer; beauty is different to each individual and means something vastly different in any given context. In realms of art and music, it is often easy to see where W WW. TJS.ORG

one can find beauty despite differences in taste or preference. But beauty manifests in so many other ways and other places that we cannot limit the concept to the arts. To some, an elegantly crafted spreadsheet or a well-executed play in basketball might seem just as beautiful as any work of art. To others, it could entail time spent helping their fellows or tending a farm.

One of TJ’s task in the lives of its students is to help them find their own idea of beauty. Understanding the importance, and diversity, of beauty leads our students to a desire to create it themselves. Armed with tools crafted through study and guidance, TJ students prepare to enter the world ready and able not just to live in the world, but to lift it up. We look to them to continue their efforts long after they have left our school, inspiring those they encounter in life to work to find the beauty that lies in the hearts of all things.

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L I F T U P T H E W O R L D W I T H B E AU T Y A N D I N T E L L E C T: FULFILLING TJ’S MISSION

The Alumni Perspective

by Michael Margulus ‘61

“Lift up the world with beauty and intellect.” This action is not exactly an item you would typically see on a to-do list unless it belonged to someone like Bill and Melinda Gates or TJ graduate Paul Messina ’61 (hint: google “exascale”)! However, adjust the goal’s literal scale to “my corner of the world” and it becomes universally applicable.

How my wife and I try to uplift our corner of the world is through photography (twomarguli.com). It’s very rewarding. It gives us an opportunity to “give back,” as we donate much of our work to schools and to charities for their silent auctions. However, it’s also gratifying to our egos to receive approbation of our efforts.

It’s safe to say that creativity through photography and other endeavors is truly my oxygen. I imagine that’s true for many of us.

It’s important to consider how TJ helps foster the enjoyment of developing creative skills and the desire to uplift through beauty and intellect. For me the answer lies in two elements: appreciation and participation.

APPRECIATION From its beginning the school has exposed students to a tapestry of great achievers, classical and contemporary. To name a few: Homer, Descartes, Cervantes, Michelangelo, Curie, Thoreau, FDR, Einstein, and Harper Lee. These people represent a variety of backgrounds

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and pursuits, but they all have one element in common: excellence!

Back in the sixties an appreciation of quality was instilled in us.

Over the last five years my classmates and I have held reunions in Washington, D.C., Chicago, New York City, Mexico City and Boston.

Besides reminiscing, poking fun at each other and solving the world’s problems, we always take in a play, visit museums, and seek out great architecture. We value great achievement. It’s still part of us, thanks to TJ.

PARTICIPATION Appreciation is essential. It inspires us to set the bar high for our own achievements and valuations, but participation allows us to delve within ourselves and develop creative assets and drive that will enable us individually to uplift our corner of the world. Participation gives us a chance to become part of what we’ve come to admire and appreciate!

Today TJ offers students a host of opportunities for self-expression: studio courses, school plays, Cabaret Night, student publications, Arts Showcases, robotics and chess competitions, etc. Frankly, the element of participation did not exist to this degree during my era. The school has added to and expanded this wide variety of options over the last 30+ years. In my opinion it has been a healthy evolution.

A final thought! As my casual hobby turned into an intense and complex undertaking, I learned that photography can be hard work.

An example of that is hauling myself out of bed at 4:30AM to catch early dawn light. No complaints. It’s very worthwhile to photograph with that great soft light. I’m just glad to have been part of TJ’s rigorous academic program that highly valued hard work and built an acceptance of it.

So, in my opinion, the key to “uplifting” is following our passions, whether, as in my case, they relate to photography, perennial gardening, innovative stock investing, or theatre. My passions had their roots in the appreciation of excellence that I acquired at TJ. Those passions bloomed through self-discovery, practice and steady improvement: participative processes that Thomas Jefferson School diligently supports today.

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THE TJ PERSPECTIVE

The Student Perspective

by Trey Wang ‘18

Striving to cultivate a spirit of curiosity and inquiry, Thomas Jefferson School provides a nurturing harbor for students who persistently seek the most challenging and the most intriguing education.

TJ’s international community attracts young scholars and vigorous leaders from every corner of the world; this place is filled with intelligent and diligent explorers. In seminarstyle classes, we are eager to engage in fierce discussions, during which we are challenged to think on our feet, gather logical reasoning, and contribute our unique perspectives.

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of aspiring leaders. Personally, I firmly believe that our caring community has not been assimilated into the mainstream of “Extrovert Ideal,” a blind belief upheld by today’s society. TJ inspires both extroverts and introverts to flourish and bloom on this patch of land because the faculty and advisors have the capacity to give undivided attention to every single student.

Nevertheless, we are not living in an overtly protective bubble. Failure exists. Because we have the courage to make an attempt to accomplish a task that many deem “hard” or “impossible”. We make mistakes and we fail, but the community helps build up the

resilience within us through mentoring, discussing, and programming. Students are open to ideas: a liberal campus implies that we respect each other’s rights, as well as ideologies. No one should, or does, feel afraid of speaking up about their religious, political, and personal beliefs. I appreciate the diversity of this community that reveals the beauty of the world to me. And I am awfully glad that my family made the greatest decision to support my learning at Thomas Jefferson School.

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GRADUATION

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CLASS OF 2017

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GRADUATION

CLASS OF 2017 COMMENCEMENT 10 |

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Introduction of Keynote Speaker by Dr. Holekamp

By Elizabeth Holekamp, Ph.D. Six years ago, we established the tradition of inviting an alumna or alumnus back to TJ to deliver the graduation keynote address. We wanted our graduating seniors to hear from someone who knew TJ first-hand, from fairly recent experience, and who could speak to them in a personal way. Our first speaker, in 2012, was Henry Agbo, Class of 2005. In 2013, we heard from Emma Smith, Class of 2009. In 2014, it was Jimmy Holloran, Class of 2003 (who is now a member of our Board of Trustees). In 2015, our speaker was Kathy Gilsinan, from the Class of 2002, and last year we welcomed back Edward Marks, Class of 2005.

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This year, we’re very happy to have with us Cody Voellinger, Class of 2001. Let me tell you something about him: Cody arrived at TJ in September of 1995.

There are some people in this room who remember his 7th grade self as well as the iterations of Cody that followed. There was the one that was promoted from Greek at mid-year; the one whose typical blue card sign-out entries were “Orthodontist,” “Burger King,” “Toys R Us,” and occasionally “Doug’s house”; and the one that never had anything other than Honors all through high school.

And here’s what Head of School William Rowe had to say about Cody at his graduation sixteen years ago:

“Cody Voellinger, like Kate Stepleton and like me, hails from Webster Groves, not far away. He was already a strong soccer player on select teams before he got here, and he’s given us the benefit of his talent on the field, as co-captain and a leading scorer, not to mention his participation in varsity basketball every year and volleyball once.

He’s been a Student Council representative several times, struggling to secure the best deals for his constituents, always arguing with a smile but not giving up readily. Oh, yes, and Cody too has compiled an enviable academic record; this group is packed with classroom leaders. Cody was admitted on Early Decision to Duke University in North Carolina, where just two other TJ graduates have gone.”

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After graduating from Duke in 2005 and, as he reports, serving a quick stint at a karaoke bar, Cody came to the world of recruiting. Over the course of more than ten years he has shared recruiting insights at Talent42 Conference, LinkedIn, Silicon Valley Recruiter Association, RocketSpace, FounderWorld, and has organized Recruiting Roundtables. He seems to know what he’s doing.

Cody founded RockIT recruiting in 2011 with a former college classmate.

As their website states, “At RockIT, we want your career to take off! We are a startup ourselves, helping other Bay Area startups build and grow their engineering teams.

Simply put, RockIT values: relationships over transactions, quality over quantity, attention to detail, and being a valued part of the startup ecosystem.”

These days, Cody says he loves babies, headbands and BBQ, and doesn’t have time for much else…

Fortunately, he was able to make time to come back to TJ to talk to us. Now, please join me in welcoming back to TJ Cody Voellinger.

Commencement Address

By Cody Voellinger ‘01 TJ grads of 2017, the 62nd [sic] class in TJ history.* Or somewhere thereabouts, math was never my strong suit… and poor Mr. Rowe had to try to teach me calculus, the only C I’ve ever gotten in my life, thanks Mr. Rowe. Ok, back to the graduates, today is all about you. Congratulations! You did it!

Round of applause.

Not a small feat for an 18y/o. You have written roughly 1k O.R.s, translated

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thousands of lines of the Aeneid and Odyssey in ancient Latin and Greek. Memorized hundreds of lines of Shakespearean prose.

All the while, striving everyday for Perfection, the elusive 0. My precious. Because a single error regardless of the magnitude will drop your grade 10%... think about that. That is character shaping.

So yes, you are special, and congratulations, today is about you.

FYI, I’m not planning on giving a typical Grad Speech. But I also don’t want you to feel cheated because you got some old guy making Dad jokes as your speaker. On that note, DJ, I was going to tell a Chemistry joke, but I was afraid I wouldn’t get a reaction… (Yep, just as I suspected.)

So let’s cover our Grad Speech advice bases: there is life after TJ; the world is a big exciting place, so don’t be afraid to try new things and you might even fail along the way, but that’s ok; things may not work out exactly as you planned, but that’s ok; there will be ups and downs, but all you can do is be a good person. Is there anything that I missed?

Okay, ‘17 graduates now you are ready to take

on the world, congratulations!

As I prepared for this speech, I realized I am the oldest ever alumni commencement speaker, and so I have one unique perspective that I bring-- I am a parent. For you grads who may or may not have this experience yet, I’ll let you in on something, having a kid changes your perspective of everything that has happened or will happen. You develop a new level of respect for the support network that is behind every individual achievement.

So at the ripe age of 35, if there is one thing that I wish I had learned earlier, it is to appreciate all of the sacrifices those around me made to get me here.

Speaking of me, I’m shocked that I’m up here, and particularly shocked that it was Miss Fairbank who nominated me. Throughout my tenure at TJ and for over a decade after, I would describe Miss Fairbank as my nemesis (which in classical mythology is the goddess of divine retribution). I think she is still looking for retribution from the great pizza heist of ’99. And perhaps this is still part of Miss Fairbank’s maniacal plan? (Maybe she knew that with a 2y/o and another baby on the way I wouldn’t have any time to write this speech, or maybe I’m standing on a trap door…)

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But given my new perspective, I want to say a heartfelt Thank You to Karen (you told me yesterday that was okay), Mr. Colston, the Roths, DJ, Mr. Rowe, the Morgans and all of the other amazing teachers along the way, too many to name.

Even though we as students never made your jobs easy, your selfless devotion to this school and the students day after day is what instills TJ’s values in us students. We think writing a perfect O.R. is difficult?

How about grading 15 of them?

TJ wouldn’t be the institution it is without the devotion of the teachers.

It isn’t the buildings or the curriculum that turn this into a factory for spirited, creative and free-thinking adults. It’s the teachers. O.R. is just a book report, but knowing that every day for six years you would meticulously check that every modifier was correctly placed, no comma unnecessary nor gerund left hanging, that’s what taught me to take pride in my work at TJ and beyond. So please, a round of applause for the teachers whose tireless and often thankless work makes it possible for TJ to produce alums like us now for 62 [sic] years.* And let’s not forget the parents whose sacrifices and dedication to enriching your lives have brought you here. Your parents

who forewent sleep so that you could sleep and grow, who worked hard to support you so that you can attend a prestigious private school, and who wiped your bums countless times so that they can be sitting in those chairs right now. Another round of applause for all of the graduates’ parents here and a special thanks to my parents.

Alumni, I don’t think I’m being too presumptuous in calling you that now, as you embark on your next journey and “become an adult” don’t forget or take for granted how you got here. Please take a moment today to thank your support network that made this

journey possible for you.

Alrighty, now on to my speech.

So as a parent and alum, I was asked to give this speech at an interesting time when I’m also contemplating how to best raise my daughter and shape her into a responsible and curious individual with a love for life and a calibrated moral compass.

So I started actively thinking about my time at TJ, what did I remember… and more importantly, how had that time shaped me post-TJ. And I’ll be honest, I was a bit disappointed in myself-- I couldn’t derive a cosign, conjugate a verb in Greek, or recite more than a line of Shakespeare... perhaps I blacked out those six intense years and moved on with my life as you are all dreaming of doing now. I thought more. I can still tie a tie (though I often choose not to). I remember Mr. Rowe’s best by Pharr joke, perhaps my love of puns was born at TJ, though Mr. Rowe is not your typical classical muse (no offense).

So did you grads just waste 1/3 of your life buried in books for fleeting knowledge? Did your parents throw away however many thousands of $?

Perhaps. That’s still up to you.

But I was thrilled to see Liat so eloquently explain in her Teacher Appreciation

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GRADUATION

Week article earlier this month that she understands that TJ does not give us all the answers, it gives us the ability to find the answers. While on the topic of the Roths, I’d like to thank Mr. Roth for providing me an example of how to raise a beautiful family-find a partner who is clearly out of your league, and recruit them relentlessly. Great minds think alike Mr. Roth, and so do ours.

Ok, so back to the topic du jour: What TJ has taught us graduates • Relentless attention to detail.

• The ability to ruthlessly prioritize your tasks and Get Shit Done.

• A systematic curiosity to explore different viewpoints.

• A sense of ownership and pride in your work.

• The foundations for being a successful human.

So parents, breathe easy, perhaps it wasn’t all for naught.

As you graduates will come to learn, doing something is easy.

It’s easy to graduate college. It’s easy to get a job. It’s easy to be a boss. It is easy to make a baby and become a parent. It’s easy to just cook chicken wings.

there is only one inaugural and undisputed chicken wing king of Redwood City, California in the last 150 years and as of last week, that is me. TJ didn’t teach me or you how to make chicken wings (although I am lobbying the board to add this to the curriculum), TJ laid the foundation for us to be undisputed champions no matter where we choose to direct our efforts. The rest, 2017 grads, is up to you.

So with that in mind, make no bones about it, it’s a beak world out there and you can either survive by the crispy skin of your teeth or you can pursue egg-cellence. TJ has given you wings, it’s up to you to fry. *Actually, it’s 70!

But it is hard to do these things well.

I can proudly tell you

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In Case You’re Wondering…

What colleges have accepted TJ students in recent years?

Alabama-Birmingham

DePauw

Maryland-Baltimore County

Rollins

American

Drew

Rose-Hulman

Arizona

Drexel

Massachusetts College of Pharm.

Austin

Duke

Barnard

Earlham

Beloit

Eckerd

Benedictine

Elon

Birmingham-Southern

Emerson

Boston College

Emory

Boston U

Evansville

Bradley

Florida International

Brandeis

Florida Southern

British Columbia

Fordham

Brown

Furman

Butler

George Washington

California-Berkeley

Georgetown

California-Davis

Georgia

California-Irvine

Georgia Tech

California-Los Angeles

Grinnell

California-San Diego

Hanover

California-Santa Barbara

Harvey Mudd

Calvin College

Haverford

Carleton

Hendrix

Carnegie Mellon

Hope

Case Western

Illinois-Chicago

Chicago

Illinois-Urbana-Champaign

Claremont-McKenna

Illinois State

Clark

Illinois Wesleyan

Clemson

Indiana

Coe

Iowa

College of Charleston

Johns Hopkins

College of the Ozarks

Kansas

Colorado College

Kentucky

Columbia College

Kenyon

Columbia U

King’s College London

Cornell

Knox

Cornell College

Lake Forest

Dartmouth

Lawrence

Davidson

Lewis & Clark

Delaware

Louisville

Denison

Loyola-Chicago

DePaul

Macalester

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Miami Michigan Middlebury Minnesota Missouri-Columbia Missouri-Kansas City Missouri-St. Louis Missouri S&T Montana State Mount Holyoke New College-Florida Northeastern Northwestern Notre Dame NYU NYU-Stern NYU-Tisch Occidental Pacific Lutheran Penn Penn State Pittsburgh Pitzer Pomona Pratt Princeton Puget Sound Queen Mary U London Queen’s U Canada Quest Redlands Reed Rhodes Rice Richmond Roanoke Rochester Rochester Institute of Technology

Rutgers Saint Andrews Saint John’s College Saint Louis Saint Olaf Santa Clara San Francisco Sarah Lawrence Scripps Smith South Florida Southern Illinois-Edwardsville Stanford Stetson SUNY-Fredonia SUNY-Purchase Tampa Temple Texas-Austin Toronto Transylvania Trinity Truman State Tulane University College London Southern California Syracuse Tennessee-Martin Vanderbilt Vassar Vermont Virginia Wake Forest Washington Washington U Whitman William Jewell Wooster Xavier.

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GRADUATION

Dr. Holekamp and Alumnus of Distinction Herbert "Skip" Sayers '49 with the class of 2017

Presentation of Diplomas

By Elizabeth Holekamp, Ph.D., Head of School, and Linda Mertz, President, TJ Board of Trustees

FROM DR. HOLEKAMP’S REMARKS: We now move to the part of our graduation that, I think it’s safe to say, happens in precious few schools: before this captive audience, I get to speak, individually and personally, about each member of the class of 2017. This is a huge challenge for me, as I have a lot to say but have to be concise; I have to try to convey something of each senior’s journey in around 200 words (otherwise we’d be here until midnight).

It’s extremely difficult because what I’m trying to convey is a complex story of growth, progress, and change. It’s a story of “then… now… and next.”

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As I speak, what you’ll hear is a composite voice, drawn directly from teachers’ comments and my own observations. I’ll take you back in time to each student’s entry year at TJ. Next, I’ll come into the present, to their senior year. And finally, I’ll state what’s coming next. Something to listen for: with this particular class, I think you’ll ascertain a pattern. Let’s just call it: “Talk more. Talk less.”

I’ll present the seniors in order of arrival year at TJ, beginning with the most recent. Following my words, each student will receive his or her diploma from Mrs. Linda Mertz, President of the Board of Trustees.

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Graduating Seniors 2017

VARUN KRISHNAN

DAVID BECKENHAUPT

“Already great”

“Inventive thinking”

THEN

THEN

What a start to Varun’s year at TJ: I’m thrilled to report that he has achieved magna cum laude for the quarter!

Though I want to encourage his creativity, it is important to strike a balance between inventive thinking and daily hard work.

I’m usually concerned about students joining TJ so late in their high-school career: often they lack the skills TJ students have practiced for years. That has not been the case for Varun. He speaks up confidently and maturely in class; he recites poems as well as anyone else.

In an impressive display of candor, David told me a few weeks into the school year that he just hadn’t thought French would be this hard.

Varun has a fun sense of humor and extracurricular interests including tennis and magic. His card and coin tricks have to be seen to be believed.

David’s account of his adventures battling Martians featured just the right proportion of vocabulary and grammar, and of course, it was one of the more entertaining obituaries I’ve ever had the pleasure (?) of reading.

Let me be the first to report good news to you: this quarter David brought his grade up in five of his six classes. I’m not sure I’ve ever quite seen that sort of leap.

NOW Varun was elected STUCO Senior Class Representative. This outcome speaks to how he is perceived within the TJ community.

Varun didn’t simply meet my expectations for the class, he exceeded them. He turned his O.R. responses into tiny works of art.

Varun is a very rare student, succeeding with two AP Science courses simultaneously.

Forgive the hyperbole, but it would be nothing short of a crime for Varun to abandon literature and journalism.

Varun is not just already a great high school student, he is already a great college student.

NEXT:

University of Miami - 8-year medical program

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NOW It’s been my view that David revels in the present and doesn’t worry much about the future. If I’m right, I urge him to expand his view today. When serious about his studies, he’s as compelling a student as any in the school.

David ignited one classroom discussion after another with his strident views of western morality.

A David Beckenhaupt that bears down on his assignments is a formidable student.

David has covered much ground since his arrival, and he’s poised for greater things.

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State University of New York-Purchase the tj review

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GRADUATION

SAMANTHA CLAYTON

ANTHONY ALONSO

“Work”

“Never afraid”

THEN

THEN

I don’t know which is more impressive about Samantha—her consistent hard work or the fact that she seems to enjoy the hard work so much.

Anthony is working to tackle the challenges of TJ life. He really is beginning to find his stride.

Samantha doesn’t stop chewing on an idea when the bell rings at the end of the class!

Passing by her in the common areas at TJ, I’ve seen her working doggedly at memorizing vocabulary and sentence patterns, and our conversations suggest that she keeps up this level of intensity when no one’s around to witness it.

Samantha has made a place for herself in the TJ community; we’re all hoping that she spends some time relaxing this summer.

NOW What I intend as a challenge Samantha often views as a pastime.

Anthony is an eager participant in class discussions—I appreciate his gregariousness even more because it’s such a quiet class in general!

I urge him not to wait until the last 20 minutes to write his O.R. so that he has time to proofread it.

Anthony has a top-flight intellect, but he needs to employ his impressive abilities consistently (i.e., every night). And bring his homework and a notebook to class.

I know this will sound strange, but following Anthony’s head injury his Greek improved.

Anthony was funny and entertaining as he taught us how to responsibly utilize nuclear power.

The high standards she sets for herself have a way of benefitting all of us.

NOW

Samantha goes the extra mile even in courses that she doesn’t necessarily have an innate passion for.

Whether it’s current events or historical issues, Anthony is never afraid to offer an opinion.

She works, even when she’s tired, even when she’s busy, even when the work would be easy to ignore.

He has always had an excellent eye for the big picture. Anthony is not afraid to envision possibilities and raise questions that can open new doors.

A hallmark of Samantha’s character is her willingness to help others.

It’s always a pleasure to see and hear him act.

Samantha has finished up another quarter with distinction. But her attitude has lightened; she seems to be enjoying herself more!

LARP (live action role play) Club thrived when he was involved.

NEXT:

My class couldn’t have been the same without Anthony in it.

University of Tennessee

He has a great ability to balance silly and serious in an effective way.

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JACK BOONE

KATRINA DY

“Quick and caring”

“Rising to the challenge”

THEN

THEN

Jack is an active participant in class and has gotten much better about balancing his peers’ need to speak with his own eagerness to share ideas.

These grades are a good start. I know Katrina is disappointed with the results, but she needs to needs to trust herself and know that she has the ability to succeed at TJ.

Jack likes to look for alternate approaches to a problem.

She often seems shy about speaking up, but sometimes her excitement gets the best of her, her face lights up, and she blurts out her idea. I love those moments.

His pure love of learning and his impressive abilities light up the classroom.

I cherish his wonderful sense of humor.

Jack is a delight to teach, thorough in his preparation, alive and quick on his toes in class, and able to take a joking insult (or seventeen) from his instructor every morning.

Katrina really turned over a new leaf this quarter with consistently thorough homework and active participation in class.

If Katrina will push herself as hard as possible, I can’t see anything but great success in her future.

NOW

NOW

Jack’s choice to sit in the front row reflects his enthusiasm for the material—or perhaps his enthusiasm for establishing himself at the heart of an intellectual discussion.

She is incredibly diligent in completing her daily assignments, she volunteers answers in class, and she comes to see me outside of class when she has questions. This hard work has paid off.

When he was absent for a couple of days, it was as though some of the air had gone out of the room.

She has developed new strengths that she will carry with her beyond our walls.

Passion and dedication cannot be faked; Jack truly cares about what he is learning.

She is the best female athlete we have seen in a decade, but more remarkable than her talent is her humility.

More than any other student, he’s knowledgeable about current events and helps educate his classmates.

Her decision to take on—and to finish—this hard program has allowed her to discover her strengths (leadership), to build on her weaknesses (math), and to refine her goals for the future (performing arts).

No one ever has to wonder if Jack is paying attention.

Involvement in Mock Trial, Green Club, Equality Club reflect his commitment to caring for and improving the world.

NEXT:

NEXT:

DePaul University

American University

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GRADUATION

JACK HU

RACHEL HU

“Music, soccer, the stars”

“A leading voice”

THEN

THEN

Jack has truly found a home at TJ and has succeeded in the task of earning the respect and admiration of his teachers and his peers.

Astoundingly, Rachel has earned High Honors for the first quarter.

She has set the bar very high for herself.

I know that the homework is sometimes a slog, but I hope Jack can make a concerted effort to complete it (and turn it in on time) every single day.

This might sound odd, but I sometimes worry that her homework is too thorough.

His love of music, astronomy, and soccer helps keep him motivated and happy.

Jack worked hard this quarter and always had a cheerful attitude during our class time. I’ll miss his classical music, which helped to calm the class down during dissections.

NOW

Be it by taking extra notes in French, writing corrections in U.S. History, or taking a leadership role among his peers in Digital Arts, Jack is already showing a willingness to go beyond the minimum requirements in his classes.

Jack isn’t just inspired by what he studies; he cares about the deeper meaning.

Jack personifies part of our school’s mission statement: We want our students to “develop a responsibility for their own learning and a desire to lift up the world with beauty and intellect.”

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Rachel is such a conscientious student when it comes to pushing herself to advance her language skills.

The only thing stopping Rachel from being an absolutely phenomenal history student is her near silence in the classroom.

NOW

This quarter was Jack’s strongest of the year, proving that not all seniors succumb to senioritis.

NEXT:

As one of the strongest students in the class, it’s time for her to become a leader in discussions as well.

Clemson University

the tj review

From the start, Rachel was able to grasp the concepts and apply them correctly. She was an active participant in our class discussions and did not hesitate to ask questions.

Rachel’s contributions benefit the class as a whole, providing insights and logic when others are unsure how to proceed.

Rachel has found her voice! She has come into her own as a leader in class and out. Captaining the robotics and volleyball teams are just two ways she’s been an official leader, but Rachel also sets an example in the classroom with the high expectations she has for herself and others.

Rachel hates making silly mistakes!

NEXT:

University of Chicago

W I N T E R

2017-2018

CLASS OF 2017

CHEN LI

JEREMY BOYD

“A wonder to behold”

“A big hit”

THEN

THEN

Chen has found the recipe for success at TJ.

Both in and out of the classroom, Jeremy has been a big hit with peers and teachers alike.

He is a very focused and precise student, and he is often one that others in the class look to when they are having difficulty understanding a specific problem or concept.

Jeremy is a leader in class, during both discussion and role-plays.

He did not do any extra credit.

Chen is a gifted musician.

Jeremy earned honors without doing any extra credit.

Chen writes excellent O.R.—his vibrant style sings, and he has gotten much better about condensing his summaries down to the heart of the action.

Jeremy’s daily average was raised with nearly the best daily preparation and class participation. He did not do any extra credit.

Chen is finally a consistent verbal participant in class. Mission accomplished.

Jeremy earned five points of extra credit! I enjoyed reading his comparison of the traditional story of Aladdin with the Disney version.

NOW

NOW

Chen is finding his way through a challenging set of classes, managing the requirements of his daily schedule while making the long-term plans that will carry him beyond TJ.

If Jeremy is not sleeping, he is moving. He has a tremendous amount of energy.

He is a true force in class discussion, always managing to articulate the essence of an issue.

As Head of Lists, he held a position where all parties involved expect organization and fairness. Chen has that reputation not just with the faculty, but also with his fellow students.

His weekly volunteer math and English tutoring has shown that he is that rare match of a gifted intellect with a compassionate heart.

Chen can peel an orange in one piece. And put it back together, just for laughs. He is a wonder to behold.

Jeremy’s ability to recall details from the text is amazing and enables him to move on quickly to making more significant connections between systems and ideas.

Service is also a bulwark of Jeremy’s life.

Helping ensure the viability of the theatre program at TJ, Jeremy founded our International Thespian Society chapter and is now president.

Whether or not Broadway is in Jeremy’s future, there’s no doubt that he will have amazing success at whatever he does.

NEXT:

NEXT:

New York University - Tisch School of the Arts

Washington University

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GRADUATION

CLAIRE MALAST

MAISIE PRITCHETT

“Improving her community”

“Patience, work, patience, work”

THEN

THEN

Claire has found her place in a friendly and dynamic class.

Maisie has me a bit stumped. One day she’ll turn in a sparkling quiz or answer every question I pose to the class, but then the next day the quiz will not sparkle or she’ll spend class time doodling in her notebook.

She is a marvelous reader, and even though she’s pretty quiet, I can always count on her to understand the points that have confused everyone else.

In addition to her quick mind and great work ethic, it is a pleasure to talk to such a sweet and thoughtful person.

I know that she has little regard for the rules of convention (capitalization and spelling, for instance), and it’s true that I have indulged her attitude to some extent. But she’ll have to get serious about the icky-picky mechanics of good, academic writing.

I’m going to push Maisie to participate more in class: sometimes she’s timid and reluctant to speak up, and sometimes she seems off in a daydream. I look forward to hearing more from her.

NOW

NOW In class, Claire is a powerhouse in discussion; everyone benefits from her insights.

In Advanced Painting and Drawing, with her most recent work Claire has made her most significant strides yet.

Claire has strong passions about improving her community and doesn’t hesitate to work hard to make her ideas come to fruition.

Robotics, Green Club, LARP club, Pandora, Prom committee—these represent different aspects of Claire’s true and deep passions.

Claire is going to leave our school a better place than she found it.

NEXT:

Now that Maisie knows how her teachers work and what they expect, I imagine she’ll see more success this winter. She is capable of succeeding here.

It is a pleasure to teach Maisie again and to see how much she has grown as a thinker and writer since I last had her in class!

I know Maisie will continue to make artwork that represents her considerable talent to its fullest.

Varsity volleyball captain, outreach/fundraising leader for Robotics—Maisie has taken on activities (basketball!) that she never imagined she would.

Maisie hardly resembles the student that showed up that first day of seventh grade. Starting off as a shy student who had trouble with exams, Maisie is now a very strong student ready to thrive in college.

Knox College NEXT:

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Lake Forest College

W I N T E R

2017-2018

CLASS OF 2017

LIAT ROTH

ALEXANDER SHORNICK

“A true force”

“Scientist on stage”

THEN

THEN

Liat has done a fine job of figuring out the routine around here—it’s almost as if she’s known the place her entire life

Alexander is a bright and chipper addition to our community.

She is one of the engines pulling class discussion every morning, as she asks superb questions and volunteers answers even when I don’t call on her (grrr).

Liat is one incredibly inquisitive student. Her curiosity and ability to think beyond the basic material definitely keep me on my toes.

I love her slightly wacky sense of humor.

Thanks for a great year, Miss Roth: don’t forget to clean your room!

About the only criticism I can offer is that perhaps he needs to back off a bit and let others answer questions in math class.

Alex is very enthusiastic in class and enjoys participating in discussions, often chiming in with little anecdotes from his life. It helps when the anecdotes directly relate to the material we are covering, but his desire to make outside connections is terrific.

I’m thrilled to announce a big improvement in Alexander’s O.R.: he’s finally into the routine.

Alexander was an integral part of our movie-making process; he played a magnificent villain.

NOW If there were a prize for consistency, Liat would get it.

Liat finds a way to make every quiz entertaining.

Liat turned out expressive performances in memory work—though she is perhaps better suited to the role of a sassy cross-dressing woman in a courtroom than an angry naked king on a stormy heath.

Ballerina, artist, big sister, class leader, writer— all are part of Liat’s identity.

Well rounded would be an understatement in describing Liat.

NOW Alexander’s positive attitude in class is infectious! Every class is a new adventure for him as he is quick-thinking and creates situations that are both bizarre and humorous.

His sense of humor enlivens all of his classes as much as his wealth of information.

Alexander’s twin passions are science and acting, which don’t seem to have much in common until you get know him.

I’m sorry to be teaching Liat for the last time in her long and storied TJ career.

From Scouts (an Eagle!), to acting camp, to school, he has made a wide range of friends. Curious, funny, loyal, kind—Alex is one of the sweetest young men I know.

NEXT:

NEXT:

University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance

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Bradley University

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GRADUATION

Remarks to The Class of 2017

by Chris Qian ‘18 and Zach Lottes ‘18 ZACH:

CHRIS:

As someone who has sat through quite a few graduations in my 5 years at this school, I feel that it’s only fair that we keep this as brief as possible. But how can we? There is so much to say about these unique individuals: I could talk for an hour about each of them but have to condense all of my thoughts into the time it takes Jack Boone to eat a medium pizza. When I first got here in seventh grade, I was somewhat absorbed into the grade above me by these fantastic people who were somehow able to look past the fact that I was a “noisy seventh grader” and make me feel included. I spent so much time with these guys over the years that most people thought I was a part of the class of 2017, and I started to feel like I was.

This is indeed an unbelievable class. Seldom do you have a class where part of the class effortlessly assumes the role of a senior, going above and beyond their responsibilities, while the rest still acts like eight-year-olds, sometimes. Yet all of them, every single one of them, has a heart of gold, a heart that tirelessly pursues passion, a heart that genuinely cares for our community, a heart that relentlessly reaches out to help other people. It looks like we are breaking our promise to be brief, but if we even give you a glimpse of how amazing this class is, you’ll understand why.

Now, we would like to present the video composed by our awesome yearbook students. Seniors, this is our gift to all of you. Thank you for being such lively, vivacious characters these years. Thank you.

WATCH THE VIDEO ONLINE HTTPS://YOUTU.BE/WQLXMXXNDNQ

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W I N T E R

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CLASS OF 2017

Celebrating the Achievements and Accomplishments of Our Students Speech by faculty member Boaz Roth TJ awards a prize to a student whose cumulative averages come out two points higher than anyone else in his or her grade. Some years we have winners in multiple grades, and at other times none: in those cases too many students “knock each other out” leaving us with no winner. And that’s the case this year. However, Dr. Holekamp has asked me to read the names of students who have earned the cum laude, magna cum laude, and summa cum laude distinction. You might be wondering why she picked me. The answer is simple, really.

It’s because I accomplished something that only one student in TJ history has achieved: graduating with a 4.0 GPA. Yes, I Boaz Roth, Lakeland Regional High School graduating class of 1986, 4.0. Hold your applause until after the ceremony. No, really you should hold your applause: my school’s grading system was based on a 6.0 scale, so my 4.0 comes out to something like a 2.6 here. Nonetheless, I am happy to read the list of these honorees, and I’d like to share some advice with both them and the seniors—if any have woken up yet.

Soon-to-be-announced Honorees: To earn such impressive grades here means you really didn’t give yourselves many days off. You composed the best O.R. you could, you wrote labs precisely, you drilled your Greek or French flashcards during cookie break, and you organized your time to make sure that you were never caught flatfooted on your quizzes.

But why did you push yourselves? The rewards for your efforts—when you think about it—are minimal. Earning these distinctions will NOT get you into college, and that other school in town doesn’t even offer academic distinctions, if I understand correctly. So why work so hard, day after unrelenting day? What’s in it for you? You may not know the answer, but I do. It’s contained in a single word of TJ’s mission statement.

Thomas Jefferson School gives its students the strongest possible academic background through a classical education. Within a nurturing community, students develop a responsibility for their own learning and a desire to lift up the world with beauty and intellect.

Maybe you think this special word is “classical.” After all, we teach Greek and Latin here, and gazed at narrowly, authors in these two W WW. TJS.ORG

languages are considered to have written “the classics.” Moreover, take away Greek, and you’d have a TJ in name only. Classical is a crucial word, but it’s not the one we’re looking for right now.

Next you might try “beauty” or maybe “intellect.” And for those who have sat in a TJ classroom and watched the students—you—discover meaning through conversation, creating something of beauty by the work of your intellect, both words are great candidates. But once again no: they are not what fuel your efforts.

The single word that explains your success today and stands as the most important word in that mission statement is...“desire.”

You probably find this assertion odd. The connotation of desire generally ranges from the neutral to the negative. “Restrain your desires,” “Take hold of your desires,” “Don’t be ruled by your desires.”

But that’s really not the case for a TJ student.

For while we teach you English, math, history, science, languages, and art, at bottom, what we really teach you is desire. Only we use a different phrase. We frequently describe our students as “lifelong learners.” And that’s true. But what those words mean is that we acquaint you with things you don’t know—and things that are downright strange (Μñνιν ăειδε θεά...)—and help you to understand these initially unfathomable subjects.

As you master them—through those beautiful classroom conversations—you learn that though much of the world is equally inscrutable, you have the power to comprehend it. That’s what lifelong learners look like: they are filled with the desire to make the incomprehensible intelligible both for themselves and—especially here—for those around them. Your classical education offers many pictures of what learning looks like, but—in the end—the mission of this institution, of this curriculum, and of this faculty is to ignite a desire to know that perpetually burns inside you. That’s what it means to be a TJ student.

So while we teachers are incredibly proud of the academic distinctions I’m about to announce and hope more lie in your future, what we’re most proud of is your unrelenting hunger to learn. That desire smolders inside of every senior on the stage right now and within the hundreds of TJ graduates the faculty have taught. TJ students are filled with a longing to learn and refuse to let anything prevent that desire, even if—unlike me—they will not graduate with a 4.0 GPA.. the tj review

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ALL SCHOOL AWARDS

2016-2017 All-School Awards Celebrating the achievements and accomplishments of our students.

Awards for Seniors THE CLARKSON HISTORY P R I Z E is selected by the social studies department, this award honors the senior with the greatest interest and accomplishment in history through his/her TJ career. 2017 recipient: JACK BOONE. THE THOMAS JEFFERSON A W A R D is presented to the senior who has, unselfishly and without expectation of recognition, given service to the TJ community, enriching the lives of others through specific contributions. 2017 recipient: JEREMY BOYD.

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THE MUMFORD A W A R D honors the senior most resembling Robert Herrick Mumford during the past year in the qualities of curiosity, kindness, generosity of attitude and action, and appreciation of sincerity in others. 2017 recipient: LIAT ROTH.

Awards for all grades THE BLECHEISEN A W A R D is named in memory of Edith Mann Blecheisen and is given to the student who has improved his or her study habits the most during the past year.

2017 recipient: MICHAEL MALAST ‘20.

THE OSBORN A W A R D honors the memory of Joseph H. Osborn, alumni parent. The Osborn Award is given to a student in grades 7-10, in recognition of his or her advancement in complex problem solving, critical thinking skills, and creativity--all of which are needed for the areas of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). This award recognizes a student who shows great promise in these areas as future fields of study. 2017 recipient: MATTHEW MA ‘19.

THE SAM FISHER A W A R D is in memory of Samuel James Fisher, class of 2001, and honors effort and achievement in use of the English language – in reading with insight, contributing to discussions, and writing with clarity and style. 2017 recipient: SARA HALILI ‘18.

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2016 - 2017

THE PARTRIDGE A W A R D honors the memory of Margaret Partridge.

This award is for the student who has most often made the day better for everyone by a kind deed or word to someone. 2017 recipient: WOLFGANG AYRES ‘19.

THE HONOR THESPIAN DISTINCTION recognizes outstanding contributions to the ideals of the Society and meritorious work in the field of theatre.

2017 Honor Thespian JEREMY BOYD ‘17.

College Book Awards THE ALUMNI PRIZE FOR EMERGING A R T I S T S is sponsored and adjudicated by TJ graduates who are professional artists in the visual and design arts. The Alumni Prize for Emerging Artists seeks to recognize the creative potential of a student in grades 9-12. The visual-arts faculty selects student work produced for a class during the past academic year, and the submissions are then evaluated by the panel of alumni artists. This year’s award winning work, “Candy Still Life”, is an exemplary example of painting in oil, capturing the challenging nuances of translucent subjects and the interaction of light. When viewing this piece, contours flicker between stark clarity and diffused melting forms, resulting in a panoply of painted depths and colors that appear to glow from within. 2017 recipient: CHRIS QIAN ‘18.

THE THESPIAN SCHOLAR D I S T I N C T I O N recognizes Thespians who demonstrate high academic success in overall coursework. 2017 Thespian Scholars: RACHEL HU ‘17, MATTHEW MA ‘19, LIAT ROTH ‘17, and JEREMY BOYD ‘17.

THE PRINCETON BOOK AWARD recognizes a member of the junior class who has shown a strong personal commitment to community service while maintaining excellence in their academics. Together, we believe these characteristics personify the Princeton University motto, “Princeton in the Nation’s service.” 2017 recipient: TREY WANG ‘18.

THE WELLESLEY BOOK AWARD is an opportunity to honor a female student in the junior class whose academic record and character are exceptional and who has also made significant personal contributions to her school and/or community. 2017 recipient: CHRIS QIAN ‘18.

THE HARVARD BOOK PRIZE, awarded since 1910, is awarded to a student in the next-to-graduating high school class who demonstrates excellence in scholarship and high character, combined with achievement in other fields. 2017 recipient: BENNETT WOODARD ‘18.

presented in recognition of outstanding academic achievement and leadership. 2017 recipient: SARA HALILI ‘18

Academic Achievemnt TJ’s specialty is developing the bright minds of individuals who will go on to lead brilliant lives. Academic achievement is measured in a number of ways here, depending on grade level, subject area, and assessment type.

Overall, we recognize a student’s body of work, over the period of the year.

CUM LAUDE: ALL GRADES AT B- OR BETTER 8th: Chris Angel, River Blount, Caitlyn Collins, Sela Roth 9th: Max Chu, April Dy, Paige Gershuny, Nandi Luvai, Braden West 10th: Barak Adler, Wolfgang Ayres, Josh Broh, Carlee Holley, Pawel Nowak, HongDing Zhou 11th: Daniel Lin, Nathan Phan, Mason Um 12th: Jack Boone, Rachel Hu, Chen Li, Liat Roth MAGNA CUM LAUDE: ALL GRADES AT B+ OR BETTER 7th: Maya Albano, Simone Hotter 8th: Livvy Gustafson, Drew Schmiemeier 9th: Sam Kou, Aaron Lee 12th: Jeremy Boyd, Samantha Clayton SUMMA CUM LAUDE: ALL GRADES AT A- OR BETTER 7th: Brian Nanton, Ciaran Santiago 8th: Cynthia Chong, Isabella Huang, Marissa Panethiere 9th: Jasmine Bao, Hansen Gan, Michelle Lee, Rosie Lopolito, Ryan Niermann, Oliver Schoenborn 10th: Cynthia Gan, Matt Ma, Stephanie Teng, Cody Um, Bonnie Zhao 11th: Sara Halili, Chris Qian, Trey Wang, Bennett Woodard 12th: Varun Krishnan

THE SMITH BOOK AWARD recognizes a talented young woman. It is W WW. TJS.ORG

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ALL SCHOOL AWARDS

St. Louis County Leadership Award One student, recognized as an effective leader and citizen, from each county high school is nominated annually by his or her principal for participation in a leadership conference and recognition ceremony.

2017 Recipient: Trey Wang

Homer Awards The Homer Award is awarded by “The Declaration” for excellence in journalism.

Jeremy Boyd: Mega Rep

National Latin, Greek, and French Awards

May Xiao: Ma’s Media Moment: Two Broke Girls

BEGINNING ATTIC GREEK High Honors (Red Ribbon): Joshua Broh With Merit (Green Ribbon): HongDing Zhou, Bonnie Zhao, Carlee Holley, and Stephanie Teng

Trey Wang: Scientific Declaration

Rosie Lopolito: Christmas Carol

INTRODUCTION TO ATTIC GREEK Perfect (Purple Ribbon): Ryan Niermann and Rosie Lopolito Highest Honors (Blue Ribbon): Sara Halili High Honors (Red Ribbon): Cody Um and Oliver Schoenborn With Merit (Green Ribbon): William Irby, Matthew Ma, Cynthia Gan, Wolfgang Ayres, Michelle Lee, and April Dy

Bonnie Zhao: Ten Awesome Things to do Over the Summer Ciaran Santiago: Jazz It Up

NATIONAL LATIN EXAM Silver Maxima Cum Laude: Chris Angel ‘21, Marissa Panethiere ‘21, and Ciaran Santiago ‘22 Magna Cum Laude: River Blount ‘21 and Simone Hotter ‘22 Cum Laude: Maya Albano ‘22 and Cynthia Chong ‘21

Oliver Schoenborn: Lion King

NATIONAL FRENCH EXAM/ LE GRAND CONCOURS Gold Award: Samantha Clayton ‘17 (AP French), Chris Qian ‘18 (French 1) Silver Award: Liat Roth ‘17 (AP French), Stephanie Teng ‘19 (AP French) Bronze Award: Jonathan Lau ‘18 (French 1)

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W I N T E R

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2016 - 2017

Athletic Awards

BASKETBALL

ή ά ρ ε τ ή A W A R D S for athletic excellence and sportsmanship: Jeremy Boyd ‘17 and Katrina Dy ‘17

Girls’ MVP: Katrina Dy ‘17 Girls’ MIPs: Jasmine Bao ‘20 and Carlee Holley ‘19

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH SCHOLAR ATHLETE: Rachel Hu ‘17

Boys’ Varsity MVP: Bennett Woodard ‘18

VOLLEYBALL

Boys’ Varsity MIP: Zach Lottes ‘18

Girls’ MVP: Katrina Dy ‘17 Girls’ MIP: Maisie Pritchett ‘17 Girls’ JV MVP: Isabella Huang ‘21 Girls’ JV MIP: Jasmine Bao ‘20

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Boys’ JV MVP: Liam Luvai ‘22 Boys’ JV MIP: Wolfgang Ayres ‘19 WATCH TJ ATHLETICS ONLINE AT WWW.PREPCASTS.COM the tj review

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BEAUTY IN DIFFERENCE

One of TJ’s most striking and cherished characteristics is the diversity that exists within our student body. What

began in 1946 as an all-boy, mostly white, mostly American school became steadily more diverse in the years that followed. Four years after its founding, TJ was one of the first schools to enroll a Japanese student, post-World

Diversity increases

War II, and our international student population has grown and diversified greatly since that time. In 1952, two

the odds that an

years before the Supreme Court school desegregation decision in Brown v. Board of Education, TJ was the first independent school in the St. Louis area to admit an African-American student. In 1971, gender diversity came into the school as girls were admitted for the first time.

organization sees the world more acutely, accurately

WHAT TJ LOOKS LIKE TODAY In 2017-18, our community is more diverse than ever, with regard to: • Race and ethnicity (individuals of Hispanic, Asian Pacific, Asian Indian, East Asian, Southeast Asian, European, African origin or heritage; TJ’s AfricanAmerican student population currently stands at 17%) • National origin (citizens of the US, Canada, Albania, Poland, Czech Republic, Mexico, Philippines, China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Vietnam, Israel) • Religion (Buddhist, Christian, Confucian, Hindu,

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Jewish, Muslim, and others, including no religious affiliation) • Gender identity and sexual orientation Over the years, TJ’s diversity has been enhanced through scholarship and tuition assistance opportunities. The Eastern European Scholarship, established in 1996 by school co-founder Charles Merrill, has brought additional international students to TJ. Other support programs include the OPUS scholarship for musically talented minority students, the Robin McCoy Scholarship for a student of Hispanic

and empathetically.

But it’s not the end of the effort, and it’s no guarantee.

--Frank Bruni, New York Times, 3.8.17

W I N T E R

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descent, the Heytman Scholarship, and the David G. and David Van Vleck Cox Scholarship Fund. These dedicated scholarships are part of an overall tuition assistance program at TJ that typically provides some level of funding for approximately one-third of our families.

GUIDING PRINCIPLES We agree with Frank Bruni that simply being diverse is not enough.

It may feel to some like a natural or “organic” aspect of TJ’s culture, but we must not take our school’s extraordinary diversity for granted. If we want to ensure that TJ is truly a welcoming, safe, and equitable place for all who come here, we must be intentional about developing, understanding, and supporting our diversity. This begins with how we define ourselves as an institution, with the fundamental values and principles that inform and guide our work. These are formally set down in a number of places, including our school Bylaws and the standards of our accrediting organization, the Independent Schools Association of the Central States (ISACS).

of Independent Schools (NAIS). As we analyze the results, we expect to gain valuable information and insights into what next steps the committee and the school should take.

LEARNING Building intellect has always been TJ’s strong suit. We are very fortunate to have teachers who are highly skilled at helping our students discover and explore different points of view through the

FORMALIZING THE WORK In 2016, we created a diversity and inclusion task force made up of faculty, staff, and parents. Its charge was to raise questions, identify issues, and develop opportunities for learning and growth around the topic of diversity and inclusion in our school community. Formation of this group was inspired by current events and also by a superbly frank and thoughtful piece on TJ’s approach to diversity that was written by Alexis Barber, a member of the class of ’16 and now a student at Northwestern University. In March of 2017 the task force met with the Board of Trustees to discuss future plans and priorities for promoting the work of diversity, inclusion, equity, and social justice in the program and life of the school. The Board committed to contributing to the effort through direct participation and provision of resources.

This past summer the original task force was expanded and formalized into a standing Committee on Diversity. The current president of the Board of Trustees has joined the committee, as have additional parents, alumni, and staff members. We will soon have student representation, as well.

The committee is chaired by faculty member Marie De Jesus, whose leadership job title is Director of Diversity and Student Affairs. The group is charged with providing a framework for discussion and with bringing resources to our school community. The committee’s first action was to conduct a climate survey, the Assessment of Inclusivity and Multiculturalism Survey (AIM) from the National Association W WW. TJS.ORG

essential practices of reading, research, writing, and debate. In this time of ideological silos, echo chambers, and dis- and misinformation, it is more important than ever that our students be taught to think critically and deeply. It is our obligation to help them achieve a more expansive perspective and nuanced view of the world around them. This is crucial where issues of race, culture, equity, and social justice are concerned. As a school community, we must be able to witness and process events like those that took place in Ferguson and Charlottesville, and to confront controversies such as the question of protesting during the national anthem or that of removing Confederate statues from public spaces. In order to do that, we must be willing and able to observe, listen, think, question, and talk together in an intellectually honest, critical, and respectful way. It is also essential to bring heart to this work. Being able to see and consider more than one perspective is inextricably bound to the quality of empathy, particularly in the case of ideas and positions with which we may disagree. That said, we will not waver in our condemnation of racism, xenophobia, misogyny, homophobia, and bigotry. We will certainly learn and talk about them, but we will never valorize them as simply “alternate” viewpoints. the tj review

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STUDENT LEADERSHIP TJ students are directly involved in the effort to ensure that our school is a welcoming and supportive place. For example: • Students lead the Equality Club, which they founded to increase awareness and understanding of issues related to equity and social justice. The club has organized events such as a movie night demonstrating how mental health issues are portrayed in film, activities designed to challenge stereotypes and assumptions about race and ethnicity, and an art contest to highlight gender identity during Transgender Awareness Month.

• The TJ Boarding Council is the student leadership group for boarding students. It helps plan and fund events that celebrate the different cultures that are present in our school. Boarding Council has done everything from handing out hungbao for Chinese New Year to organizing trips to a variety of ethnic restaurants in St. Louis. Boarding Council also promotes Residential Life educational programming, which includes sex education classes that include information about gender identity.

• In 2015, the Student Council worked with faculty to revise the dress code to make it more equitable with respect to gender.

• Students work alongside faculty, staff, and parents on the Student Activities Committee to plan a calendar of events each year and try to seek out opportunities for our community to experience a variety of religious and cultural events.

COMMUNITY PROGRAMMING For the past several years we have been conducting regular cocurricular programming on a variety of topics that support our diversity and well-being as a community. Our faculty, staff and students receive ongoing education and training on important topics such as race, gender identity, and mental health, and on how to talk about these and other sensitive or difficult subjects. Recent presenters at school have included experts such as Dr. Anna Warbelow, Associate Director for Campus-Student Life at Washington University and trainer for SafeZones, and Dr. Jason Q. Purnell, Washington University associate professor whose work on For the Sake of All

project is particularly powerful to those of us who live in the St. Louis area. In the coming months, we will offer the adults in our school community the opportunity to participate in a “Witnessing Whiteness” program.

THE CHALLENGES BEFORE US The work of fostering a diverse and inclusive community requires all of us at TJ to engage respectfully but honestly with people whose background, customs, beliefs, and experiences are different from our own.

Such engagement may be uncomfortable at times, but that should never dissuade us. We are genuinely committed to doing the work. Our challenges include: • Being more purposeful in leveraging the wonderful cultural diversity that we have at TJ—our international population is one of our greatest assets; • Finding more ways to engage our students meaningfully with the world outside our TJ “bubble,” including connection to the racial and ethnic richness of our local community; • Ensuring that TJ is adhering to the diversity and inclusion principles it espouses, by purposefully monitoring such areas as enrollment, retention, tuition assistance, programming, and hiring.

In order to sustain our school’s diversity, we must be an interconnected community, including all of our constituencies: faculty, staff, students, trustees, parents, grandparents, alumni, alumni parents and grandparents, and friends of the school. By whatever means you choose to be involved, please do join us in recognizing, embracing, and supporting the beauty of our diverse TJ family.

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There shall be no discrimination by the School in the selection of its governing Board, in the employment of personnel, in the admission of students, or in the administration of the School’s programming because of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, sexual orientation, marital, veteran, or handicapped status in violation of existing state or federal law or regulations.

--Thomas Jefferson School Bylaws, Article XII

In keeping with its purpose, goals and philosophy, the school shall demonstrate its commitment to an inclusive and equitable school community for all its constituencies, through all of its programs and operations, regardless of ability, age, gender, race, religion, sexual identity, socio-economic status, and any other identifiers important to the school.

--ISACS Standards for Membership, B4

Food for thought…

How do we understand terms like “multicultural,” “colorblind,” “politically correct,” “racist” and “privileged”?

In our small community, do we ever call on one individual to speak for an entire group as if it were one-dimensional or monolithic?

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A YEAR IN PICTURES

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Jack Hu '17 presents the Animation Class

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Trey Wang '18 and Mr. Roth promote the Trivia Night raffle

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61 Caitlyn Collins '21 and Marissa Panethiere '21 62 Senior Prank day left no desk upright!! 63 Welcoming back Dr. Troutman 64 Mr. Roth's rendition of Shakespeare or giving directions for the TJ Cup 65 Students competing at TJ Cup Games 66 Pawel Nowak '19 and Samantha Clayton '17 in the all-school play 67 Simone Hotter '22 in class 68 River Blount '21, Liat Roth '17, Peyton Franks '17, and Claire Malast '17 69 TJ fortune cookies at the art showcase 70 Artwork at the TJ Arts Showcase 71 Zach Lottes '18 72 TJ Cup Games 73 8th Grade Play Blount '21 on Opening Day

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How TJ Works TJ’s success as a school is built on the people within it.

The governance and organizational structure may have evolved over the years, but the bedrock remains the same: multi-talented and dedicated faculty and staff, teaching and learning alongside extraordinarily bright students whose parents are committed to providing this type of education for them.

Administrative and Campus Operations

SCHOOL GOVERNANCE TJ is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, governed by a Board of Trustees comprising 10-16 members.

Trustees serve a three-year term that can be renewed for one additional term. Board members may be alumni, alumni parents, or friends of the school. Paid employees of the school and parents of current students may not be trustees, but they may (and do) serve on Board committees or task forces. At present, the Board has seven standing committees and one task force. The Board of Trustees meets formally four times a year.

Most committees also meet at least four times a year.

The Head of School is the sole employee of the Board of Trustees.

ADMINISTRATIVE AND CAMPUS OPERATIONS, ACADEMIC OPERATIONS These areas are managed by faculty and staff in a relatively “flat” structure that encourages cooperation and collaboration. There are multiple opportunities for faculty leadership development, in particular. Schoollevel committees and task forces provide support in a variety of areas. Committee membership may include parents, faculty, staff, and students.

(Administrative Staff)

Business Officer

Director of Development & Constituent Relations

Director of Admissions & Communications

Bookkeeper* Director of Facilities

Facilities Staff

School Nurse* Outsource Partners IT Food Service Transportation

Kitchen Staff

PARENTS AND ALUMNI All TJ parents belong to the TJ Parent Association, which exists to engage parents with the school and with each other, in support of TJ’s mission. The TJ Alumni Association seeks to maintain connections between and among alumni, alumni families, and the school, also in support of TJ’s mission.

STUDENTS TJ students participate formally in student governance through Student Council and Boarding Council. They serve on various school committees and are also directly involved in the formation and running of activities and clubs.

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BOARD OF TRUSTEES Officers: President, Vice-president, Treasurer, Secretary, Immediate Past President

STANDING COMMITTEES Advancement Board Membership Buildings & Grounds Ad hoc: Master Plan Steering Committee

Evaluation Executive Finance Strategic Planning

Head of School

Academic and Co-curricular Program Operations

Assistant to Head and Registrar

Director of Athletics

Coaches Faculty

CONSTITUENT GROUPS Alumni Association Parent Association

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(Faculty and Residential Staff)

Director of College Counseling

Faculty

SCHOOL COMMITTEES Admissions Diversity & Inclusion Faculty Curriculum Food Safety & Health Student Activities Sunshine

Director of Residential Life

Director of Diversity & Student Affairs

Resident Assistants

STUDENT GOVERNANCE Boarding Council Student Council Student Activities & Clubs

Director of Academics

Director of Teaching & Learning

Department Chairs English History/SS Math Science Classical Langs Modern Langs Arts

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Middle School

Director of Service Learning & Global Citizenship

Director of Student Activities Co-curricular Trips Coordinator

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A Letter from the Board President

By Stephen Bacon

Dear Members of the TJ Family, We live in times of change. This seems to resonate in the present but it’s a maxim on which we’ve relied throughout human history. From the Greeks to the Romans, from the dominance of the Church to Industrialism; from Friendster to My Space to Facebook to Instagram. You get the idea.

We are indeed living through times of immense change: national, economic, political, cultural. To think this is beyond the grasp of our students is foolhardy at best, dangerously ignorant at worst. Our students learn Greek, Calculus, European History, and Dance. But they live and thrive in the world

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of Ferguson, cryptocurrencies, renewed Cold War tensions, and climate change.

We must make the classroom resonate with the world beyond the TJ gate. Our students must be able to adapt to the change they experience on a daily basis. Our guiding principles, our North Star, our mission must guide us on the journey to educate and grow the exceptional children we call our students.

As a Board of Trustees, we must learn and grow with our students. We look to our school’s mission statement, our strategic plan, and our annual goals as guiding principles. We too must lift up the world with beauty and intellect.

This year, we will focus on welcoming our accrediting team from ISACS. We will push our enrollment increasingly towards sustainability. We will forge a path toward the future of our campus. And we will continue embracing the diversity of the world in which we live and thrive.

Welcome to a new school year at Thomas Jefferson School. We thrive in times of change.

Respectfully, Stephen C. Bacon President, Board of Trustees

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The Board of Trustees Welcome to the Board: TJ would welcomed three new Board members in June of 2017: Dennis Boone, Al Schergen, and Andrea Reubin.

STEPHEN C. BACON Stephen Bacon is President of the Board of Trustees and serves as Board Treasurer.

He is a consultant with Portland-based management consulting firm The Gunter Group where he focuses on organizational health and change.This is Steve’s seventh year as a trustee. In his time with TJ, he has chaired both the Strategic Planning and Finance committees and served multiple terms as Treasurer and Vice President. In 2014, Steve led the creation of the school’s current Strategic Plan.Steve holds a bachelor’s degree in Finance and Marketing from Boston College and a master’s degree in Organizational Psychology from Columbia University.Though born and raised in St. Louis, he and his wife have settled in Portland Oregon with their three children and a chocolate Lab. TRISH WINCHELL Trish Winchell is a partner with Thompson Coburn LLP where she advises public and privately-owned businesses and state and local governments in all aspects of employee benefits. She has extensive experience with qualified and nonqualified retirement plans, welfare plans, and executive compensations, including equity-based plans. She has advised W WW. TJS.ORG

governmental entities ranging in size from small municipalities to the City of New York on unique and complex laws affecting their benefits plans. Trish has been named one of the Top 50 Women Lawyers by MissouriKansas Super Lawyers. She holds a B.A. from Valparaiso University, and a J.D., Order of the Coif, Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. She is the mother of Kevin Dwyer, '10.

LINDA MERTZ Linda Mertz is a past parent of Alexandra, ’07 and served as president of the parent association for four years while Alexandra was a TJ student. She served on various committees—development and advancement, building and grounds committee, master planning for the building & grounds committee, served on the board of trustees and also served as president of the board of trustees.

Linda supports the mission of TJ, education of all young people to be able to have the opportunity and reach their fullest potential and is happy to be connected to TJ. She has the experience of having known one of the founders, Charles Merrill and appreciated his vision of a strong classical background for young people to be well versed in the sciences, mathematics, music, to be excellent writers and to value and enjoy thecreative and fine arts as well. She promotes, peace, joy and service to others.

MICHAEL BIGGERS Michael Biggers went to public schools in the Houston Texas area before earning a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Washington University and a J.D. from Harvard. After serving as a law clerk for a judge on the United States Court of Appeals, he has practiced law as a litigator handling complex business and international cases at Bryan Cave LLP in its St. Louis and New York City offices.

Trustees for the 2017-18 year: President and Treasurer: Stephen C. Bacon Vice-President: Karthik Raghavan Secretary: Trish Winchell (Kevin Dwyer ‘10) Immediate Past President: Linda Mertz (Alexandra Mertz ’07) Michael Biggers Dennis Boone (Jack Boone ‘17) Jimmy Holloran ‘03 LaDonna Hopkins (Sarah Hopkins Tolch ‘95) David Messina ‘92 Greg Oldham ‘70 Al Schergen (Kenny Schergen ‘16) Andrea Reubin (Micah Goodman ‘13)

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DENNIS BOONE Dennis Boone has spent his career as a Geologist for Missouri Petroleum Co., Vice President at California Products Corp.

Cambridge,MA., and as an athletic products manager for Futura Coatings. Locally he owned PMI LLC.and Narek Corp in Phoenix, AZ. Other than being a geologist for MO Petroleum he has been exclusively involved with the construction of sporting facilities around the globe as well as having manufactured materials for sport surfaces.

Dennis is the father of TJ graduate Jack Boone '17.

JIMMY HOLLORAN ‘03 After TJ, Jimmy Holloran (’03) attended Northwestern University and following graduation spent time in telecommunications and teaching sixth grade math with Teach For America in St. Louis, before getting his MBA from Yale in 2014. After spending 3 years consulting with Bain and Company, Jimmy recently left to try his hand at a meal kit startup, Home Chef. He lives in Chicago with his wife Jordan, who were married in St. Louis this past May at Union Station in St. Louis.

LADONNA HOPKINS For more than forty years, LaDonna has been working in communities to change lives by connecting community resources with human needs.

In 1992 when LaDonna and her family moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, she became the first Executive Director of the Greater Albuquerque Habitat for Humanity. She joined the staff of United Way of Central New Mexico in 1995. In July of 2010

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she retired as the Vice President and Chief Development Officer.

In August 2010 LaDonna established her own consulting firm, H & H Consulting. Awards include being named a Woman of Influence by the New Mexico Business Weekly(NMBW), Outstanding Fundraising Executive by AFP-NM, 20 Women Making a Difference

by Albuquerque Journal’s Sage Magazine, a Corporate Hero by NMBW and the YWCA’s lifetime achievement award, “A Woman to be Reckoned With.”LaDonna is married to Paul Hopkins and they have two children, Sean Hopkins (deceased) and Sarah Tolch ’95, and one granddaughter, Amelia Tolch.

DA VE MES S INA ‘9 2 Dave Messina (TJ ‘92) has spent the last 20 years working in computational biology and genetics. He took part in the Human Genome Project at Washington University in Saint Louis, mapped disease genes at the University of Chicago, and co-developed the first comprehensive atlas of human transcription factor genes. As COO of Cofactor Genomics, Dr. Messina is helping to make personalized medicine a reality.

Cofactor Genomics uses RNA to help researchers and clinicians understand, diagnose, and predict drug response for the 95% of disease that can’t be assessed by DNA alone.

GREG OLDHAM ‘70 Greg Oldham is a TJ alum (1970), a former teacher and trustee (1977-1979), and the parent of a student (2006-2008).

He is a retired lawyer. When he isn’t thinking about how to make TJ an even greater school he

lives on a little farm in western Oregon.

AL SCHERGEN Al Schergen was born in St. Louis Missouri and grew up in both St. Louis and South Florida. He graduated from Washington University in St. Louis and medical school at St. Louis University school of medicine.

He completed sub-specialty medical training at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester Minnesota specializing in hematology and medical oncology. He then returned to St. Louis and started his practice in 1985. He married his wonderful wife Gail in 1989.

The Schergens have two children: Katie born in 1991 and Kenny born in 1997. Kenny is a graduate of Thomas Jefferson class of 2016. Al continues to be active in the practice of hematology and medical oncology and is honored to be a trustee at Thomas Jefferson.

ANDREA REUBIN Andrea Reubin is a clinical social worker. She specializes in the challenges to identity, sense of place, and physical and emotional vitality that come into play as individuals, couples, and families age or experience debilitating and chronic physical and emotional illness, and the corresponding fractures to relationships that often occur.

She earned graduate degrees in Social Work and Business, and completed Civil, Family, and Elder Mediation training. Andrea enthusiastically joined the TJ Board in 2017. She is mother of TJ graduate Micah Goodman '13.

Update of the Strategic Plan Our strategic plan is overseen by a board-level, standing committee as established by the school’s bylaws: The Strategic Planning Committee shall anticipate and plan for issues related to the health of the School, including trend analysis, market analysis, and identification of threats and opportunities. It will act in accordance with the School’s Statement of Mission and Purpose, taking into account both present circumstances and long-term objectives. (Bylaws Article VII, Committees) COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP FOR 2017-18 Chair: Dave Messina ’92 (Trustee) Members: Michael Biggers (Trustee), Jimmy Holloran ’03 (Trustee), Dale Bording (Business Officer), Stephen Braun (Faculty), Marie De Jesus (Faculty), Jane Roth ’91 (Faculty), Erin Walsh (Director of Admissions & Communications), Kathleen Kelly (Director of Development & Constituent Relations), Stephen Bacon (Board President, ex officio), Lisa Holekamp (Head of School, ex officio) OVERALL COMMITTEE GOALS • To review and update the School’s strategic plan on a regular basis • To articulate a vision for the School’s sustainability • To recommend major new or revised components W I N T E R

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of the strategic plan to the Board of Trustees COMMITTEE DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES Including, but not limited to: • Review of admission and enrollment statistics • Investigation of the academic environment both locally and nationally to identify trends, threats, and opportunities • Referral of topics for discussion to the Board of Trustees • Regular review of lists of peer schools developed for comparison of the School to others with regard to education programs and outcomes; business operation; development success; integral programs (boarding, auxiliary) • Overseeing the setting of annual goals for the School and monitoring progress toward fulfillment of goals • Interfacing with other Board committees in support of completion of their charges • Submission of a written report on Committee activity prior to each Board meeting COMMITTEE CHARGES FOR THE 2017–2018 SCHOOL YEAR • Monitor communications about Strategic Plan • Monitor outlook and trends: demographic, economic, enrollment, philanthropy, leadership, workforce, equity and justice, online safety and privacy, student wellness, international students, learning and teaching • Conduct peer analysis CURRENT STRATEGIC PLAN (2014-2019) Major Goals 1. Excellence TJ will continue to challenge itself by striving for excellence in order to remain worthy of the talent that the school recruits, develops, and sends into the world.

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Excellence implies achieving the best possible outcome with the resources available. At TJ, this means building and maintaining a community that gives its students the strongest possible academic background in order that they become contributors to and citizens of the world.

environmental sustainability. They call for TJ to:

2. Diversification TJ will diversify its resource base in order to ensure that it continually delivers on the mission while minimizing the amount of risk to the school’s future.

3.1.1 Increase its enrollment to equal or exceed one hundred mission-appropriate students.

Diversification is a process of varying the sources and types of resources upon which success depends in order to avoid an overreliance on any one type of resource.

At TJ, this means a focus on diversifying the recruitment, community, physical, and financial resources on which the school depends. In doing so, the school further supports its goal of sustainability by minimizing the risks associated with its ongoing operation.

3. Sustainability TJ will build a sustainable school that meets the needs of the community today and anticipates the needs of the community tomorrow while preserving the cultural elements that make TJ unique.

Sustainability is the usage of resources that ensures productivity into perpetuity. At TJ, this means a focus on enabling the school to continually meet its mission. As the education community evolves in the twentyfirst century, TJ too must embrace new, modern ways of delivering on the mission.

2.4.2 Purposefully commit funds to those uses that drive a sustainable community, especially the use of modern technology, faculty development, and the physical plant.

3.2.1 Complete a comprehensive campus master plan by identifying and prioritizing the facility improvements necessary to deliver on its mission as well as to improve its standing within the local St. Louis and broader independent and boarding school communities.

3.5.1 Create and execute customized education plans that best engage each constituency group in environmental stewardship and sustainability.

As we move into the final phase the current Strategic Plan, the committee will start the process of planning for the next cycle that will begin in 2020. The plans, priorities, and recommendations that emerge from our upcoming ISACS (Independent Schools of the Central States) self-study and reaccreditation report will inform this work.

PROGRESS REPORT Since the plan was launched in 2014, the school has been systematically working on specific actions and tasks under each of the broad goals. We track and report progress on a quarterly basis. At this time, the overall scorecard is 80 of 89 tasks started (90%), with 58 of 89 (65%) tasks at least ¾ complete.

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TJ ATHLETICS

ou’ve seen it so often you can’t escape it. You’ve seen the coach dumped with Gatorade. You’ve seen the coach on the shoulders of his players.

You’ve seen the coach holding up the championship trophy, and afterwards you hear the commentators utter the same two words: great coach.

...THE ONLY THING

And maybe you’ve coached a bit yourself. Maybe you coached your daughter’s seven-year-old basketball team. Maybe you’ve coached a high-school team.

Maybe you’ve coached a high-school team for twenty years. And maybe you’ve never had Gatorade dumped on you. Maybe your players had no reason to lift you on their shoulders. Maybe you’ve never held up a championship trophy. Maybe your coaching record has never given anyone the chance to call you a great coach.

But then after twenty years of coaching, you’ve seen great coaches lose games. Lots of games. You’ve seen the coach—dumped with Gatorade one year—crush a Gatorade cup the next as a season-ending loss approaches. You’ve coached so much in twenty years that you discover victory can’t be the sole criterion for greatness. Chance and circumstance play so great a role in every athletic contest that no coach—or player—guarantees victory.

So after many years you see through the illusion: you no longer fixate on the great coach. You now

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understand that only one thing matters: great coaching. And you understand that great coaching manifests itself in momentary bursts—one minute here, ten seconds there. You watch for it in your own coaching, you watch for it from other coaches in your field, and you watch for it from coaches in different sports. It becomes something of an obsession. Wins and losses matter far less than before. You are constantly on the watch for just a single moment of great coaching.

THEN YOU SEE IT. YOU SEE IT ON OCTOBER 15, 2016. YOU SEE IT OCCUR DURING A FIVE-SECOND SEQUENCE IN VOLLEYBALL. You see it on a relatively unremarkable play: a dig followed by a hit over the net. It wasn’t a perfect play: the team didn’t even use all three touches. But it doesn’t matter. In that sequence, you realize you saw two months of coaching work distilled into five seconds. You saw great coaching.

Those five seconds on October 15, 2016 began two months earlier. That’s because Thomas Jefferson School’s first day of classes—and volleyball practice—began on August 18, 2016, the earliest start in its history. Now the volleyball team was given something they never had before: a chance to W I N T E R

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those first weeks of the season, TJ volleyball dominated the conference, and the team walked about campus with an athletic halos glittering above.

Marie DeJesus (DJ) doing one of the many wonderful things she does for TJ - coaching

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girls’ volleyball.

compete. As recently as a decade ago, TJ classes would start the Thursday after Labor Day, and by then other teams in the conference had two weeks of practice and a half-dozen games under their belts. There was no way to catch up. This year’s calendar, however, gave the team hope.

In addition to this early start, Coach De Jesus (DJ to anyone who knows her) walked around campus with a larger smile than usual. She had two senior captains— Katrina Dy and Rachel Hu—and a massive talent upgrade: freshman April Dy (sister!) and eighth-grader Marissa Panethiere. Both newcomers had years of volleyball experience and gave DJ’s squad a level of expertise rarely seen in any TJ team. Heading into her first tri-match in late August, DJ was optimistic that her squad could make a lot of noise in the twelve-team MAC conference this season.

After two weeks of competition, this noise would shatter eardrums. The girls began the year 8-0, a start unmatched in by any TJ team in any sport. Confident opponents would stroll in the gym, with dismissive looks on their faces as they warmed up: clearly they thought in 30 minutes they’d be on the bus after taking apart the same old TJ team. And indeed many were on the bus in 30 minutes, as DJ’s squad dismantled them in a fury. During W WW. TJS.ORG

Then, in mid-September, dark clouds smothered their luminous glow. First, came a loss to a team from Alton, and a rematch a week later brought the same result. Soon even the victories were by closer margins; the blowouts had ended, and the girls were struggling to win.

On the court the players visibly started doubting themselves.

Lunchtime conversations were all about “what’s going wrong,” despite the fact that their record was still sensational.

Then the season spiraled into disaster. TJ lined up to play the last undefeated team in their conference—Eagle Ridge Christian School—and got clobbered. When the two squads met later that month the results were even worse.

For much of that match, TJ went through the motions and barely put up a fight. The uncharitable way to put things is that they quit. Whatever the case, the magic had worn off, and heading into the conference tournament, the team was reeling.

With a week to prepare before the tournament, Coach DJ didn’t panic: she coached. Her practice lengths stayed the same, her drills were the same, her expectations were the same. Nothing changed. The girls expected a boot camp with lots of screaming, but that never happened. DJ’s coaching went like this: she praised the girls’ successes, called attention to their mistakes, and offered suggestions for improvements. In other words, DJ was teaching her players.

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TJ ATHLETICS

CLOSE YOUR EYES, AND YOU WERE IN HER AP CHEMISTRY CLASS AND NOT THE GYM. SHE HELD OUT THE LADDER OF SUCCESS AND BOTH INSTRUCTED AND ENCOURAGED THE PLAYERS TO CLIMB IT. The players took to this coaching well. In the both quarterfinals and the semi-finals of the tournament it was August and early September all over again: they demolished both opponents mercilessly. The back line dug balls inches off the ground, the setters arced their passes gracefully, the the sisters Dy crushed every spike opportunity that came their way. The swagger had returned, and only one opponent remained between TJ and the championship: Eagle Ridge.

DJ’s coaching took hold. Our girls stood up to the Eagles’ powerful serves and dug the rockets launched their way. When Eagle Ridge called a timeout, up only 12-10, pandemonium began to ensue in the gym. Perhaps this Goliath could be toppled.

Any such notion was quickly dispelled: following the timeout, Eagle Ridge pushed ahead 23-13. With only two points away from defeat in the first set, perhaps it would have made sense for TJ to concede the first set and regroup for the second. But that’s not the ethos for any DJ-coached team. A wave of TJ spikes followed, and within minutes the score closed to 24-20. Again the Eagle Ridge coach called timeout to settle her team, and again the move proved wise, as the Eagles closed things out on the next serve. Although Eagle Ridge earned the first set, TJ gained something valuable in exchange: confidence.

CHANCE AND CIRCUMSTANCE PLAY SO GREAT A ROLE IN EVERY ATHLETIC CONTEST THAT NO COACH – OR PLAYER – GUARANTEES VICTORY. A WORD ABOUT EAGLE RIDGE. They were not only undefeated in conference the entire year, but they did not drop a set against anyone in conference. Moreover, only rarely did another team get double-digit points in any set against them. Their star player, a junior, already had college scholarship offers, and the rest of their team is loaded with girls who excel at volleyball. They are a powerhouse.

In the first set of the championship match, Eagle Ridge jumped out to a quick 5-1 lead. But from that point on,

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This gift elevated TJ’s girls.

They dominated the second set, playing once again with the verve from earlier in the day and from earlier this season. They had taken the Eagles’ best punch, smirked, and hit back, really hard. The gym was filled with cries of T…J… and before long the Eagles bent over clutching their shorts, in disbelief at the at 22-13 lead TJ had built.

The moment was simply astonishing: TJ had broken Eagle Ridge.

Then, without warning, the Eagles began to soar. They followed their game plan and started making one play after another. At first it seemed like a cosmetic turnaround: surely they’d hit one or two out of bounds, and then a third set would decide the matter. But no—Eagle Ridge played flawlessly, and they clawed their way back to find themselves a point away from the championship, 24-23.

It was like TJ’s whole season compressed into a single set: fantastic success followed by a reversal and disaster.

Normally a coach would call a timeout here; the coach of W I N T E R

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what DJ taught them and what they learned.

In those five seconds, the girls had pushed past the need for DJ and her coaching.

Paradoxically, through DJ’s coaching the girls made themselves autonomous of her coaching.

Does it matter that following this sequence, April uncorked a powerful spike to give TJ a one-point lead? Does it matter than Katrina followed up with an ace to give TJ an unthinkable moment—winning a set from the impossibly powerful Eagles? Does it matter that Eagle Ridge came out for the third set with a bloodthirsty determination and easily took home the third set and the championship trophy?

Eagle Ridge did so twice in the first set to preserve victory.

But DJ couldn’t call a timeout: she used them earlier. So now, with the end of their season staring them across the net, the girls were on their own. Their coach was useless now. And that’s when DJ’s great coaching appeared.

IN A VACUUM, THE NEXT FIVE SECONDS WERE SOMEWHAT PEDESTRIAN. Eagle Ridge served, and senior Maise Pritchett dropped to her knees at the middle of the floor to dig the ball to Marissa stationed in the front row at the right side of the net. Rather than set the ball to a teammate, Marissa quickly sent it over the net directly to the hands of an Eagle Ridge setter, and as she circulated the ball cross-court, two Eagles swiped at the ball and made more contact with each other; the ball fell harmlessly to the court. In and of itself, this was an unexceptional play.

But in context, it was this play that captured the previous two months of DJ’s work. At that moment, the girls were in despair: once again magnificent success was followed by excruciating hardship. After forging an insurmountable lead, that cushion totally disappeared. Earlier in the season, the team had DJ’s week of practice to help them realign themselves. But in those five seconds there was no DJ: there was just DJ’s coaching. And because of DJ’s work, the pressure didn’t matter, and the consequences of failure didn’t matter. All that mattered to the team was W WW. TJS.ORG

Maybe it would have meant everything for you a few years ago. Back then, the only way you could judge coaching success was by victories. Back then, you focused on the games but not what goes into the games: the practices, the minutes before the practices when players can set the tone of the next hour with their demeanor, the moments after practice when much of the work of confidence building and self-evaluation takes place. Back then, you didn’t understand that the great coach is not the visible one, riding on his players shoulders like an emperor carried by elephants. Back then, you didn’t understand that the great coach—DJ—ultimately makes herself invisible at the season’s most crucial points. But that was back then.

Now you know that at the most important moments for a team, the great coach is nowhere to be found: in her place, however, you’ll find great coaching.

Story by:

BOAZ ROTH Director of Athletics; Chair, English Department; Instructor in Classical Languages, English & Math Joined TJS in 1994 Education B.A. American University M.A. St. John's College, Annapolis

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Catching Up at TJ Congratulations to our Faculty Graduates!

MATT TROUTMAN, PH.D. Dr. Troutman just earned a Masters in Education from Columbia University’s Teachers College. He was part of a small cohort at the Klingenstein Center studying Independent School Leadership.

LISA GILBERT, PH.D. Dr. Gilbert completed a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction (focused in Social Studies) from Saint Louis University. At graduation in May 2017, she received the “J. J. O’Brien Award for Outstanding Graduate Student.” While in graduate school, she published several journal articles and book chapters that focused on helping students use critical thinking skills as they exercise their abilities in empathy, perspective-taking, and identity development.

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JIM PESEK ‘99 Mr. Pesek received an MA in Education for Global Sustainability from Webster University.

Boarding Council Update The TJ Boarding Council was instrumental in making 2016-2017 a great school year!

Members arrived to Boarding Orientation a day early in order to plan activities and meet about all that they wanted to do for the community in the coming year. After lending their muscle and sweat to help students unload items from storage and move them into the dorms, TJBC members jumped right into their roles as leaders in their Houses, inspiring House spirit and pride. Once again, students new to TJ commented on how TJBC members helped them to feel welcome and adjust more quickly to the community.

Under the leadership of junior Trey Wang, this year’s Boarding Council found many

ways to make our community better for everyone.

They helped fund Coffee Therapy’s new coffee cart, allowing easier service in the Student Commons. They organized a House pumpkin carving contest that brought out the artistic and competitive nature in everyone. The TJBC sponsored a celebration of Chinese New Year by distributing hongbao, which are red envelopes filled with candy and prizes. In response to student requests to reform how the laundry room is used, the group created a new system that helped people know who was using the machines. TJBC members sent holiday cards (purchased from Pandora!) to everyone in their House. Monthly House meetings became more fun as well, usually with the addition of ice cream or pizza! The women of Gables seemed to have the best events, holding movie nights and girls’ nights throughout the year.

In addition to finding ways to bring the people together, Boarding Council members continued to proctor evening study halls and serve as peer mentors to other students.

They were also happy to help faculty and staff in any way they could, even when it was something not so fun, like cleaning up after an event. We were lucky to have such a wonderful group of students so dedicated to the community.

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Residential Life celebrated a successful year with an outing to Concord Lanes the night before graduation. Students and adults enjoyed bowling, miniature golf, and pizza. It was fun for everyone to spend time together off campus without having to worry about completing O.R. or studying for an exam.

In fact, it was so much fun that next year’s Boarding Council has already begun planning our next group event!

The 2017-2018 TJBC looks forward to continuing to make TJ a great place to live!

Thank you to the 2016-2017 Members: Michael Biraralign, ‘18 Cynthia Gan, ‘19 Sara Halili, ‘18 Mason Um, ‘18 Bennett Woodard, ‘18, Assistant Head Trey Wang, ‘18, Head Bonnie Zhao, ‘19, Secretary Welcome to the 2017-2018 Members: Michael Biraralign, ‘18 April Dy, ‘20 Sara Halili, ‘18, Secretary Michelle Lee, ‘20 Matthew Ma, ‘19 Mason Um, ‘18 Bennett Woodard, ‘18, Head Trey Wang, ‘18, Assistant Head Bonnie Zhao, ‘19, Treasurer/Fundraising

STUCO Update Our students are instrumental in making TJ a great school. One of the key ways in which they do this is by representing their peers on Student Council, more commonly known as STUCO. STUCO helps to guide the school by serving as a liaison between students and faculty, staff, and administration. We truly listen to what STUCO has to say, and many of their proposals become reality. STUCO terms run from November to April, and from April to November (bridging to the following year).

A huge thank you to the students who served on STUCO in 2016-17. And to STUCO’s intrepid faculty sponsor and Director of Diversity and Student Affairs, MARIE DE JESUS (better known as DJ).

It was a busy year for TJ’s Student Council.

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We actually spent more time supporting new group activities like the TJ’s International Thespian Society group. By providing funds, they were able to go to their first convention here in St. Louis. We also helped TJ’s Coffee Therapy purchase a coffee cart so they could continue to make tasty smoothies and strong coffee. In February, Spirit Week was energetic, culminating with the TJ t-shirt that had an Albanian quote from Sami Frasheri: “Plan today, succeed tomorrow; learn today, succeed forever.” At the end of the year, a competition was held between the advisors to raise money for Blessings in a Backpack, an organization that provides food on the weekends for elementary school children across America who might otherwise go hungry. We successfully raised $520 and Mr. Pesek’s advisees got to dump water on Mr. Roth’s advisees. STUCO is currently looking for new furniture for the Common Room.

STUCO members for the 2017-2018: Presidents: Chris Qian/Mason Um Vice-Presidents: Sara Halili/Stephanie Teng Secretary: Stephanie Teng/Michelle Lee Heads of Lists: April Dy, Carlee Holley/ Cynthia Gan and Victoria Xu Secretary: Stephanie Teng/Michelle Lee Grade Representatives: 12th Grade Rep: Samantha Clayton/Daniel Lin 11th Grade Rep: Michael Biraralign/Bonnie Zhao 10th Grade Rep: Barak Adler/Max Chu 9th Grade Rep: Paige Gershuny/Marissa Panethiere 8th Grade Rep: Marissa Panethiere/Heather Davis 7th grade Rep: Maya Albano/Nathalie Guillossou

Robotics Update Team 5404, the Titanium Titans, had another successful year in 2016-17. Senior Captains Claire and Rachel did great work, returning team members (Cynthia, Cody, Matthew, Nathan) took on bigger roles, and new members (Sam, Jasmine, Isabella, Chris Angel, April, River, Hansen) jumped right in to contribute. Chris Qian and Mason were named incoming Captains.

Monsanto Fund, traveled to Arkansas for their State Championship in December, and competed in a MO Regional Qualifier in February. At multiple points in the year, the robot went through cycles of redesign and improvement.

The team also competed in two local matches and advanced through that process into the Eastern Conference Qualifier. In the Conference Qualifier, TJ finished 4th! of 35 teams after the initial round of matches.

Finishing 4th meant the team became captain of an alliance during the playoffs. Though we lost in the playoffs, the team did a great job all day: working with other teams, fixing hardware and software problems, even improving the robot to shoot a particle during the autonomous period.

After the competition season ended, Robotics continued to explore new technologies and build new skills.

Mrs. Malast has been instrumental in those efforts, sharing her knowledge of CAD models and 3d printing.

Overall, it’s been a great season with all the pieces in place for 2017-18! .

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WHAT

A M N O I T A U T C N U P U DO YO H T I W Y F I T IDEN ?

Y H W AND

PANIC in the F O T N E M O CE A M stly to iNDU re). o m , rk la a as ent to prepa m iz n u q ig l s a s n a fi o had n h this ame up wit (when they not c y 2 a d ‘9 ip th k o s R t rs revealed las io Jane n ir e e s th e n th o t h u whic ed o it was hand aragraphs in e p c g in s in s emselves. u rs th m io t a n u o 4 se b 1 a l to a rned in person as a joke tu something d o e ls rt a t ta u s b t t a effec But wh ge to great a u g n la g in ill at us just their sk

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ARK On their final English quiz of the year, the seniors were asked, “What punctuation mark do you most identify with and why?” Here are their answers.

Anthony Alonso THE PERIOD The period. Short, simple, no unnecessary bells and whistles. Sweet, simple, uncomplicated. Easy.

I might not be a lot like a period, but I wish I were.

The same as one wishes for the good old days when ice cream men weren't [creepy] and Adam Sandler movies were good. The period is the punctuation of one's childhood, the days before life became so jumbled and disorganized. I'm not truly a period. No one is quite so simple and pure. I, like all people, am something a little more complicated, but I wish I were a period.

David Beckenhaupt THE QUESTION MARK Which punctuation mark is most like me? Is it the dash—I can't remember if it's an em dash or an en dash—because of the way I segment information?

Or is it maybe the parentheses (they're kind of pretentious, I know) due to the way I always have irrelevant, non sequitur-esque information to share?

I do enjoy the semicolon; it's such a nice hybrid. I'm not a period. Am I quotation marks, as in “Have an original thought, David”? No, I think after writing all of this, I know what I am. But do I? I think I'm a question mark, but I'm not really sure—what do you think?

Jack Boone THE PERIOD I think I identify with the period the most. It marks the end of one sentence and the beginning of another, and to me it represents the largest struggle I have had with writing recently. This is my innate inability to put spaces after my periods, and often after other punctuation marks. You could even say my struggle lies not with the period itself but with the space that comes after. But the reason I chose to talk about the period was not only my struggles but my strengths. My TJ career has occurred in a time of great change in my life. And just as the period W WW. TJS.ORG

signals the end of a sentence, today signals the end of my TJ career. However, this finale also signals the start of something new, another great change in my life, college. I don’t know if I’ll miss TJ a little or a lot, but I know that this experience has been something I won’t forget—like the space after a real period!

Jeremy Boyd THE COMMA I am the comma fairy. I received this title in middle school, and I have embraced it as a loyal golden retriever would embrace little Timmy and shower him with slobbering kisses. They, as I am, are small pauses. Here let me waste some of your time by being literally pointless (yeah, no dots, just a tiny slide after a word). Comedy lives and dies with commas, but how long do you have to pause until a joke is at its maximum potential? How much of me is the right amount? Where do you put them?

Everywhere? Where do they make sense? Nowhere?

They're misunderstood and spliced and forgotten.

Sometimes they marry periods and then they become giant pauses, but not longer ones. What's going on there? They just don't make sense. Just like this. Where has this response gone? Goodbye, TJ! Here's to a comma’s ability to connect ideas together, to make a paragraph, sentence, or even a clause with an infinite rainbow of my brain’s sparked flames.

note that all these things are separated by commas, the grammatical representation of too many things to think about.

Katrina Dy THE ELLIPSIS The ellipsis captures me best. They are used for omissions. Most of the time, an ellipsis is employed to create a pause or even an awkward silence. An aposiopesis is used at the end or the beginning of a sentence to create the effect of leaving an idea unfinished. Other times, we remove certain parts of writing, replacing them with an ellipsis. Now, why do I identify with this punctuation mark? Because when I am texting, it’s the go-to response for me in almost every situation (almost). I also have a lot of afterthoughts, so . . . When I would write in a diary, I employed ellipses everywhere. When my hand is writing faster than I can think, I can replace that with a . . . . I’m quite hesitant as well, so having this punctuation mark helps me express that— especially if I am writing casually. It’s my go-to response in texting because it gives the exchange some texture. Tone is hard to read in texts, and an ellipsis can be interpreted as annoyance, hesitance, or disinterest. And I’m fine with my targeted readers taking it any which way.

“So, how are you?” “ . . .”

Samantha Clayton

“What should we do today?”

THE COMMA

“ . . .”

I identify with the comma because it can either help or hinder the development of an idea in a sentence.

On the one hand, it can separate out ideas so they don't mix up in the grammar of it all, but it's not always helpful. The main point of a sentence, like a second-semester senior school day, could go on and on and on, and all of it is connected with a comma.

While the second-semester senior (me) is lazy and plays games all day, she also has so much work to think about. Here a paper, there a paper, everywhere a presentation. Even as I write an interesting (I hope) answer to an interesting question, I think about what slides I need for my AP Chem presentation, what I will write for my history paper, and when I should do another draft of my English research paper. Please

“Am I annoying you?” “ . . .”

“I like you.” “ . . .”

“Hi” “ . . .” “ . . .” “ . . .”

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Jack Hu THE WAVY DASH I’m a wavy dash, of course! [This Chinese punctuation mark indicates stress in places where English would use italics to suggest an emphatic tone.] A wavy dash captures my general ambiguity, and it also depicts my go-with-the-flow attitude as well: the weather is very nice today. I can ride happiness as if I am surfing waves, or I can pick up fascinating pieces of joy as a breeze does. I don’t want much except to take pleasure in simple satisfactions.

Rachel Hu THE COMMA I identify with the comma the most because it’s cool. A comma can do many things, like starting a new sentence, separating a dependent clause, adding a participial phrase, etc. It seems to be the most useful and popular punctuation mark, as I aspire to be. It also has a sense of hope, continuing onto another chapter instead of ending the sentence like a period, and it’s not as serious as a semi-colon. The ongoing possibilities of a comma gives it immortality and invincibility—things I want.

Varun Krishnan THE BACKSLASH The punctuation mark I most identify with would have to be the backslash(\). The backslash is often overshadowed by its brother the forward slash (/), which is both easier to find on the keyboard and utilized more by the layman. This obscurity the backslash must endure mirrors my life as I too am oft overshadowed by my family and friends. While the backslash is quickly passed over by the eye of the typical human, however, it enjoys unparalleled fame in the world of computer programmers due to its use in escape sequences and path names in many programming languages. Furthermore, it has been handed a handful of names from

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slosh and backwhack to downhill and reversed virgule. I too am more at home in the computing domain and likewise have been and continue to be called a wide range of names.

Henceforth, if I had to channel my being into a punctuation mark I would not pick the old/overused forward slash but instead, the backslash.

Chen Li THE COMMA The comma does not stand in the spotlight: it plays a constant supporting role. Yet when the comma disappears completely, the structure of a sentence crumbles and nothing seems to make sense. Like the comma, I don’t mind staying in the shadows and working behind the scenes. I do wish to contribute, even if no one wishes to acknowledge my effort. Like the comma, I can be very useful or completely redundant, depending on the situation. I wish to play a role that does not confine me so that I can quietly work in the dark. I don’t need a spotlight, but I hope there’s always a spot for me somewhere.

Claire Malast THE PERIOD I feel like I'm a period because I'm too blunt sometimes, and periods are the most blunt of punctuation marks. Also, I think I'm a period because most of the time I wish people would just shut up. I admire the period’s ability to end sentences and make people stop talking. And periods are everywhere.

They're one of the most common punctuation marks, and I'm also everywhere. I'm loud and annoying, and I won't stop talking about an issue I care about, so the period’s commonality suits me well.

Maisie Pritchett

it’s still good for – organization – connecting words and making new adjectives – decorating boring slides (– like so –) – and making lists and stuff I'm also fairly good at these things, so I feel as if I can relate to this weird line that's kind of useless and has been subjugated to the realm of the numbers on the keyboard. Why is it there? What is it doing? Who knows, but it's still helpful. (And it's definitely better than an em dash. Em dashes don't even get a spot on the keyboard.)

Liat Roth THE COLON As Michelangelo said, a statue is born from chipping away at all the marble that isn’t a statue. So let’s chisel off our other punctuation friends to find out what makes me a colon.

Alexander Shornick THE INTERROBANG I identify most with the interrobang.

Neither a question mark nor an exclamation point alone portrays me well enough. Only the combination of both provides the power and emotion that represents me. What's that?! The order doesn't matter?! You can have as many as you want?! It has so much utility. It portrays excitement, shock, confusion, dumbfoundedness . . . .

See that ellipsis? That is some boring punctuation. If I could replace all my punctuation with the interrobang, I would. Even when you read it in your head, it makes anything more interesting—for example, “He said what?” Compare that to “He said what?!” Wow, doesn’t that make it so much more interesting? Yes. So why doesn’t everyone use it?

Because they’re boring. But I’m not, and don’t you see that’s why I’m AN INTERROBANG?!

I’m not a period: I stall too much to end the sentence.

I'm curious enough to be a question mark, but that's not where I end. I have to find the answers.

An exclamation point is too flashy, the equivalent of purple sparkly eyeshadow.

I’m definitely not cool enough to be an ampersand.

I think I’m relatively uncluttered enough to be a comma.

A dash? Lord knows I don't dash to do anything.

So here we are: a colon. Because I'm patient and ready to teach and explain. Because I'm kind of fancy but also so relatable and down to earth.

I'm a connector. And because a colon is visually striking and everything is an art project!

THE DASH I’m probably a small dash (–) because it’s just kind of there and it isn’t essential for grammar or anything, but W I N T E R

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Statement of Student Excellence An excellent student is defined by more than good grades and admission to college. At Thomas Jefferson School, we develop not only our intellect but also our character. Drawing on the best of the classical tradition, we challenge ourselves to achieve áρετή in all pursuits.

The following statements represent what student excellence means to us: ◊ We seek knowledge for the sake of knowledge, not only for the sake of earning good grades. ◊ We approach learning with a sense of joy and curiosity (but also with books, pencils, and paper!). ◊ We take initiative and responsibility for our own learning, using our teachers as a resource. ◊ We are comfortable speaking up when we don’t understand because we recognize that the process of taking risks and making mistakes gives us opportunities to learn. ◊ We balance extracurriculars with other commitments and obligations. ◊ We view participation in clubs not as a résumé line but as an opportunity to collaborate with and learn from others and to develop the non-academic sides of who we are. ◊ We approach relationships with teachers and peers with honesty and care, striving to be empathetic, genuine, jovial, and respectful in all our interactions. ◊ We make healthy choices, understanding that the body fuels the mind and that proper care of the body (including sleep!) fosters the intellect. ◊ We treat our learning community as a family, both giving help where needed and accepting help when necessary. ◊ We embrace the elements of a humanist education: academic knowledge, diverse experience, and meaningful friendships.

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ALUMNI

ALUMNI OF DISTINCTION These four individuals, our first class of Alumni of Distinction, truly represent the best of TJ!

T

he true measure of a school’s greatness can be found in the lives and achievements of its alumni. In 2017 Thomas Jefferson School established the Alumni of Distinction Award to celebrate alumni who have distinguished themselves through their careers, their service to their communities, and their commitment to TJ. T H E A L U M N I O F D I S T I N C T I O N A W A R D recognizes those alumni who have made significant contributions to society, and whose accomplishments, affiliations, and careers have honored the legacy of ή άρετή at Thomas Jefferson School.

In the inaugural year of the award, we recognized four distinguished alumni: John H. Biggs ‘54, Thomas Griesa ‘48, Herbert “Skip” Sayers ‘49, and Irving A. Williamson ‘61.

JOHN H. BIGGS CLASS OF 1954 John Biggs has been an “idea man” everywhere he has worked. After studying classics and mathematics at Harvard, he began his professional career with the General American Life Insurance Company, where he served in various actuarial management positions.

He moved on to Washington University to serve as vice chancellor for administration and finance, and eventually completed his doctorate in economics there.

He left the university to become president and CEO of Centerre Trust, Inc.; subsequently, he joined the wellknown pension fund TIAA-CREF, where he served as president and chief operating officer from 1993 to 2002.

John Biggs has been involved with innumerable corporate, community, and professional organizations.

He has been a director of the Boeing Company, JPMorgan Chase, and the National Bureau of Economic Research; a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; a trustee of the Danforth Foundation, and a member of the Washington University Board of Trustees. He has chaired the United Way of New York and served as treasurer of the New York Investment Fund.

John has written many scholarly papers on corporate governance, variable annuities, social security, and pension plans. He is now an executive-in-residence at the Stern School of Business at New York University and is working on a broader research and teaching role in his favorite subject, “financing retirement in the 21st century.”

John Biggs has called his time at TJ “the most profound educational experience of my life,” and he has backed that statement up through his stalwart and generous support of the school. I should add that he has retained his passion for classics (a true TJ thing).

John, Tom, and Irving were recognized at the NY Reunion and Skip at the 2017 TJ Graduation. These biographical remarks are taken from the presentation by Head of School, Lisa Holekamp.

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THOMAS GRIESA

HERBER T “SK IP” SAYER S

IR VING A. WILLI AMS O N

CLASS OF 1948

CLASS OF 1949

CLASS OF 1961

Tom Griesa is a Senior United States District Judge for the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. His prominent career spans several decades and many landmark cases, marking him as one of the giants of modern American jurisprudence.

Skip Sayers’ Thomas Jefferson experience began in 1946, the year of the school’s founding, when he was a self-described “problem” student. Robin McCoy took him on as a challenge, and Skip justified that by blossoming into a leader and an innovator in every aspect of the life he pursued.

Irv Williamson has had a highly distinguished career in the service of the United States government, as a trailblazer in the international trade field, as a role model in his family and his peers, and someone who has actively helped others in the community launch their careers. Irv has served on the United States International Trade Commission since 2007, including as its chairman from 2012 to 2014 and for six months last year most recently as its chairman. Prior to his Trade Commission appointment, Irv was President of Williamson International Trade Strategies, Inc., a New York-based consulting firm that advised clients on legal, policy, and regulatory issues affecting international trade and business. As a consultant, he worked on a wide variety of projects, provided training, and advised countries on World Trade Organization accession, compliance, and participation. Much of his work focused on trade with Africa and the Middle East.

Born in Kansas City, Tom was recruited to Thomas Jefferson’s second graduating class by school founder Robin McCoy. Although Tom had already finished high school, Mr. McCoy convinced him that the school would provide a strong foundation for his future. And indeed, he matriculated to Harvard University and went on to graduate from Stanford Law. Judge Griesa has lived a life of service to his country, first in the Coast Guard, then in the Department of Justice, and, after 12 years in private practice, as an appointee in 1972 by President Nixon to the federal bench, where he became Chief Judge of the Southern District of New York in 1993.

The oldest court in the United States (even older than the Supreme Court), the Southern District of New York has heard many cases of significance over its 228-year history, and Judge Griesa has been part of that tradition. He oversaw the debt restructuring of Argentina, the first contempt holding for a U.S. Attorney General, and even John Lennon’s successful suit against a record producer’s unauthorized release of Lennon’s demo tapes.

In college, Skip organized the Iowa State’s Fraternity Pledge Classes when he was elected the Inter-Fraternity Pledge Class President. After college and US Army service, Skip went into the printing industry where he excelled as President and CEO of the Sayers Communications Group, Inc., a commercial printer in St. Louis. Skip’s printing expertise earned him a patent for application of scent strips for magazine inserts.

He went on to give back to his industry by serving as the President of the Graphic Arts Technical Foundation, President of the North American Graphic Arts Council, and President of the Society of Fellows (similar to a Hall of Fame for printers.)

He founded The Graphic Innovators, a group of the top innovative printers from across the country.

While managing these accomplishments he also served his church as an Elder, produced and developed “BisonFest,” a fundraiser that in 16 years gave 400 students from Washington County, MO scholarships to go on to college, and became active in Young Presidents Organization and Junior Achievement.

Initially as a hobby, Skip started innovating in the bison industry. He later became President of the American and the National Bison Associations, and introduced his vast marketing experience into a fledgling industry that was made of farmers and ranchers who knew very little about advertising.

Today he is very active in his church as a member on the board of trustees, a Stephen Minister, and a volunteer for Buddy Break, a program that helps children with special needs.

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Earlier in his career Irv played a role in developing the Partnership for Economic Growth and Opportunity in Africa initiative and represented the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative in negotiations with the Congress on the African Growth and Opportunity Act legislation. He also served as Deputy General Counsel in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. Earlier, Irving was Manager for Trade Policy for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. This was after serving for 18 years as a Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Department of State with overseas assignments in Switzerland, Madagascar and Mauritius.

Irv holds a B.A. in history from Brown University, an M.A. from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and a J.D. from the George Washington University Law School.

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Alumni Updates The Thomas Jefferson School Alumni Office Kathleen Kelly, Director of Development kkelly@tjs.org To submit information for Class Notes, please email Kathleen Kelly or submit your update at http://www.tjs.org/alumni/.

1952 Paul Weston Paul retired in 1998 from the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department of the University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign. After his retirement, Paul and his wife Patricia happily engaged in amateur music activities and world travel, until she passed away this year

Tullio Chersi, At the time TJ talked with Tullio he had just spent 15 days in a spa at Rimini on the Adriatic coast to treat his osteoarthritis with hot mud baths. Included is a picture of his grandchild Alice, 12, taken in Madrid by son Daniele.

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1949 Herb “Skip” Sayers Skip received the TJ Alumni of Distinction Award at the 2017 Graduation and had a very special home coming.

He is enjoying retirement and has become very active in the Presbyterian Church.

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Bernat “Bernie” Rosner Bernie is still traveling fairly regularly. He attended a family reunion in June with wife Jan and his three boys and their families (three grandchildren) on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. He also took a trip to Italy in August. Bernie talks regularly to schools and civic groups about his life story and book An Uncommon Friendship; The story of two children trapped on opposite sides of the Holocaust. He will be the featured speaker at the Lawrence A. Morgan Lecture Series at TJ on May 1, 2018.

1954 1953 Arturo Carlos (Carlos) From 1957-1980 Carlos worked with family firm RESINS INC in the chemical industry. From 1980-2000 he participated in various start-ups and turnarounds in manufacture/ assembly of integrated circuits in Asia; in the biotech industry (veterinary vaccine), etc. Today he is retired and interested in mitigating poverty.

Bill LaPorte-Bryan Life goes on: Bill’s family has grown to 2 children, two stepchildren, four grandchildren and 5 great grandchildren. He and his wife, Ann, sold their house in Hartford ​about a year ago and moved into a condo in neighboring West Hartford.

They live on the third floor with windows that oversee beautiful Elizabeth Park next door with its world-class rose garden.

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at a neighborhood school. He is trying to come up with a “theory of everything” since his hobby is theoretical physics, particularly cosmology. In TJ news, he recently nominated his classmate, John Biggs, for the Alumni of Distinction Award and enjoyed their reunion in New York for the first time since graduating.

1957 Douglass Lind Douglass and his wife Penny sold their Connecticut home last October and now have one home in Florida. In a year they will move into a house which is under construction. Douglass continues to serve as a priest at St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church on Sanibel Island on the west coast of Florida. He also continues to serve several corporate clients as a management consultant.

1958 Alan Wheeler Alan retired a year ago after many years of teaching. He is now catching up on reading, traveling, and gardening.

Working on his stamp collection is another pleasure.

1959 Eric Birch Eric took a trip to Antarctica with his wife Sandra Moose.

They both attended the recent TJ Reunion in Boston.

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Ed Vanvoorhees The last we checked Ed had 2 grandchildren and 2 more on the way. He is working on retiring along with his wife Linda, who is winding down her medical practice as well. He lives in Nashville, Tennessee.

Pam Farley Pam’s oldest daughter completed her first year of medical school at West Virginia and oldest son is a senior year at Marquette University. Her youngest son is a sophomore in high school.

Pam says, “Can’t believe I’m old enough to have all kids driving.”

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Joseph Roth Joseph retired from the Navy after 20 years of active service in 2012. He’s pictured with James Gandolfini (aka Tony Soprano) while he was deployed in Afghanistan. When last checked he was completing law school in two weeks, moving from Malibu to DC, and preparing to take the bar exam.

Adam S. Kibbe At the beginning of June, Adam and his wife converged their two homes and one office into one address, in Brewster on Cape Cod -- he expected that massive amounts of extra work and complications would abate and result in less of both by the time fall rolled around. Happily, web-based meeting technologies allows him to work from home -last year he averaged 5 meetings a month in Boston, but in his first full month there’s been just one trip up to Boston! Their granddaughter and her parents visited recently from Texas for a week right after the move to celebrate her first birthday, which was grand! Still feeling out Life 3.0 (4.0? 5.0?) but diggin’ it ...

1983 Michael North A little over a year ago Michael took a new job as Head of Reference and Reader Services in the Rare Book and Special Collections Division at the Library of Congress. He works in the *Thomas Jefferson* Building, and one of our most famous collections is the Library of *Thomas Jefferson*. TJ alums who are visiting Washington should feel free to contact him when they’re in town if they want to see some of the collections: mino@loc.gov.

1989 Matthias Thorn Matthias and his wife recently bought their first home in Cambridge, MA, and he won a peer-nominated award in December for his work building and running the student tech support team at MIT. It was the “Infinite Mile Award” and is the highest recognition awarded by the department. He was very proud and humbled by it!

1992 Aimee Dowl, ‘92, teacher ‘00-’04 Aimee just relocated to Washington, D.C. after several years in Brazil, Pakistan, and Uganda with the State Department. Her husband, Derek (“Mr. Kverno,” teacher ‘00-’04), is also a Foreign Service Officer and currently posted in Monterrey, Mexico. She would love to hear from TJ folks in Washington or Monterrey.

Alisa Tang Alisa is married to husband Landry Dunand, and has a daughter Luciole, which means firefly in French. She recently lives on a riverine island in Bangkok known for its fireflies.

Alisa has been working as a journalist the past 15 years in Asia - mostly based in Bangkok, with the exception of two years in Kabul. She reported from countries across the region including Pakistan, Nepal, Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. In August she moved to DC where she accepted the position as home page editor for The Washington Post. It’s an exciting time to be at the Post and in DC, and Alisa is thrilled to live near her family again and close friends including TJ alums Aimee Dowl, Layla Asali, and Robin Runge. She is also psyched to live in a place where she will frequently get visitors and can fly to the Midwest for weekends back home.

1996 Bodin Namwong (Bank) Bodin moved back to Thailand after earning a B.S. in Aeronautical & Astronautical Engineering at Purdue University. He is now working at SCG Chemicals in Thailand.

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(www.radiancestl.com). Serena gives of her time to TJ and is on the Advancement Committee.

2006 William Beeler William just graduated from the emergency medicine residency in Kansas City, MO and moved back to Chicago, IL to be an emergency physician in Olympia Fields.

1998 Martha Feeney-Patten Martha had a baby, Audrey Stella Feeney-Patten, in December. She and her wife are very happy!

2002 Daniel Kramer lives with his partner, Alexandra Mertz ‘07, in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He works as a massage therapist at Ojo Caliente Mineral Springs.

He is part of the Sufi Ruhaniat International.

Serena Mounts (Thomas) Serena is mom to a little 14-month-old boy and working as a freelancer (in PR) for a few different companies, including Noodles & Company, Washington University, and an agency based out of Pittsburgh, The Motherhood. Later this summer, her family also opened a wellness center in Brentwood called Radiance Float + Wellness

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2003 Andrea Gregory-Schuelke Andrea is working as a private educational consultant in Minneapolis, MN. She married Law Schuelke on July 9, 2016 in Stillwater, MN. Jimmy Holloran On May 6, 2017, Jimmy Holloran (‘03 and current TJ board member) was married to Jordan Barnhill at Union Station in St. Louis. The couple met in St. Louis while teachers with Teach For America, and they now live in Chicago. Jimmy is a consultant at Bain and Company and Jordan is completing her Masters in Social Work at the University of Chicago. Joining them in celebration from the TJ community were classmates Doug (‘01) and Thalia (‘03) Leavitt and Neil Shah (‘03), current Head of School Lisa Holekamp, current faculty members, Boaz and Jane Roth, Marie DeJesus, and Karen Fairbank, and former faculty member, Ken Colston.

Soraya Voigt (Johnson) Soraya is married to Zach Voigt ‘07. They had a baby boy, Reed Voigt on 9/20/2016. Soraya is doing a surgical research fellowship at Duke University.

Zach is still managing his own company, Wag-N-Purr, and taking care of the baby and our two fur babies.

2007 John Harness lives in Chicago and coordinates the Welcome Blanket project, a craft-centered activist art initiative founded by the creator of the Pussyhat Project.

Russ Leonard Russ currently teaches immersion language classes for the German School Association of St. Louis. He also works as a musician and composer, performing locally and writing scores for short films and plays as far away as Valencia, Spain.

Alexandra Mertz Alexandra majored in Spanish and Intercultural Studies at Pitzer College in Claremont, CA and graduated in 2011. She then returned to her study abroad heart and home, Ecuador, where she lived and taught as an ESL teacher and Spanish tutor for a year. Upon returning to the USA, she worked in rural Perryville, MO, as both translator and spiritual counsel for Latino/a Catholics in the USA and Puerto Rico, and as an agent of intercultural competency among a previously homogeneous staff.

In 2016 she moved to Santa Fe New Mexico with Daniel Kramer, LMT ( TJ ‘02, Pomona College ‘06, Santa Fe School of Massage ‘16). Since then she’s been joyfully road-tripping to and fro--from the Bay area to Missouri and back, and all around the near Southwest. She now considers herself a crazy cat (and dog) lady, and is a passionate gardener and sun worshiper. She practices and performs American Tribal Style Bellydance in Santa Fe, and works at a local specialty boutique raising bee awareness and selling local desert honey and mead, nectar of the Gods!

Sara Thomas Sara is exploring her new home in the Pacific Northwest and working on a novel series, the first entry of which will be published later this year.

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Zach Voigt Zach is married to Soraya Voight.

They had a baby boy, Reed Voigt on 9/20/2016. Zach is managing his own company, Wag-N-Purr, and taking care of the baby and our two fur babies.

professional at Booth School of Business on unemployment insurance and social security benefits, and at Center for the Economics of Human Development on the effects of early childhood education.

surgeons. His two weeks were not limited to transplants, though. He also got to view three open-heart surgeries with the cardiothoracic team, which really captured his imagination. He is now seriously considering a career in cardiothoracic surgery.

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2009 Kasia Gryzlo Kasia has been working as a creative copywriter in several advertising agencies in Warsaw, Poland.

Jan Strzelecki Jan is working at PwC in Warsaw since 2014, and doing mountaineering in his free time.

2011 Monica Derbes Monica just finished her first year at UMKC school of law and is interning for the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office.

2012 Chanwool Kim Chanwool graduated from the University of Chicago this past June, majoring in economics, public policy studies, statistics, and mathematics. He is now working as a research W WW. TJS.ORG

Rosemary Pelch (new last name is Berberian!).

Rosemary graduated from Pomona College in May 2017.

She is spending this year working with developmental economist Tahir Andrabi on research on education development in Pakistan. Her wedding was in St. Louis this past September.

2014 Thomas Van Horn Thomas is a current senior at Washington University in St. Louis studying chemistry. This summer, he worked as a camp medic in Colorado for a Boys and Girls Club camp that serves the Denver metro area. He is looking forward to finishing off his last year of undergrad and moving on to medical school.

2016 Tom Horton This past summer, Tom got the opportunity to shadow the Surgical Transplant Team at Methodist Hospital in Memphis.

During his two weeks with the program, he spent over 160 hours in the hospital viewing surgeries and shadowing various

Nominations Welcome Thomas Jefferson School is now accepting nominations for the 2018 Alumni of Distinction Award. The selection of the recipient is made by the TJ Advancement Committee and approved by the Board of Trustees. The award recipient and nominators will be notified upon selection, and the recipient will be recognized at graduation. The record of all nominees shall be maintained in a carry-over file and considered for a previous year.

The award is presented to a TJ alumnus or alumna who demonstrates either in their career, service to community, or commitment to TJ the spirit of ή άρετή, the quest for human excellence.

• Nominees must have graduated from Thomas Jefferson School.

• Current trustees and faculty/staff may not be considered for the award.

• Awardees (or a representative, in the event of a posthumous award) must agree to attend graduation or an official school reunion and be present to receive the award.

• Nominations may be made by anyone except the nominee.

• Submit nominations using the online form at tjs. org under the Alumni tab.

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Class of 1967: Michael Johnson, Robert McDonald, Jeff Meikle, David Sims, Robert Mendelsohn

Alumni In Action ALUMNI REUNIONS, MEET-UPS, AND DROP-INS Reunion: A time to remember, a time to laugh, and a time to celebrate. A reunion is a coming together that strengthens our bond and reminds us of the gift of belonging.

Thank you for stopping by, traveling to a reunion, and catching up! It is always wonderful to see alumni and family.

TJ Reunion LOOK FOR THIS POSTCARD

IN YOUR MAILBOX!

This past year TJ organized reunions and luncheons in Chicago, San Francisco, New York, St. Louis, and Boston.

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Jeremy Boyd '17 and Eloise Coupey '79 at the NY Reunion 2 Jane '91 and Liat '17 Roth 3 2007 Classmates: Karen Tsoka, Audrey Pavelka Metcalf, Margerite Blase, Sara Thomas, John Harness, Russell Leonard 4 Dave Messina '92, Bill LaPorte-Bryan '54, and Dan Little '61 at the NY Reunion 5 2002 Classmates: Andrew Saigh, Andrea Vera Raymond , and Randy Chen 6 Kris Prieb '89, Sharon Kim, and Irv Williamson '61 7 Bharat Reddy '97 and Robin Kramer '98 with son Winston and Jennifer Goodell 8 Class of '61 9 Kevin Lee '05, Porky Pitts '61, Eloise Coupey '79, and Dan Little '61 10 Mike Margulus '61 and wife Lisabeth, Paul Messina'61, Irv Williamson '61 and wife Cheryl

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11 Linda Mertz and John Harness '07 12 2007 Classmates: Audrey Pavelka Metcalf, John Harness, Russell Leonard, Karen Tsoka 13 Gail Sanders Pless, David German '04, Sandy Moose Birch, Eric Birch '59 14 Sara Gorfinkel's '98 children visit campus: Raia and Nora 15 Bill Rowe '63 with Andrea Raymond '02 and her son.

16 Karen Fairbank with Randy Chen '02 and Jeremy Boyd '17 17 David Sims '67 poses outside of his old green dorm 18 Andrew Saigh '02 19 David Meikle '69 and Bill Rowe '63 20 Robert Mendelsohn '67 and David Sims '67 21 Ojoyi Agbo '07, Karen Fairbank, Michelle Ermatinger-Salas '07, Ravelle Lucero '10, Jane Roth '91 and Ru Tsoka '08 22 David Meikle '69, Michael Johnson '67, Robert McDonald '67, Stephen Ashley '68, David Sims '67, Jeff Meikle '67, Robert Mendelsohn '67

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Tsoka '07, Karen Fairbank, Russell Leonard '07, John Harness '07, Audrey Pavelka Metcalf '07 with husband, Chris Metcalf 24 Jim Pesek '99 and Jack Boone '17 25 Bill Rowe '63 and Lisa Holekamp 26 Bill Rowe '63 and Ben Albano '87 27 Cece Pless, Jennifer Goodell, Karen Fairbank, David German '04, and Gail Sanders Pless 28 Connie and Herbert Sayers '49 with Jeremy Boyd '17 and dad, Dennis Boyd 29 Tom Horton '16 with Karen Fairbank 30 Michael Barry '94 with baby Madeleine 31 Colin Bartels '16 with Justin Moses '16 32 Gee Alonso, Lynn Ebert, Rick Levy '63 with wife Joanna, Anthony Alonso '17 and mom Christine Iles 33 Karen Fairbank with

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35 Cody Voellinger '01, Ken Colston, Jim Pesek '99 36 Olivia Bolton '16 and Rachel Hu '17 37 Andy Matuschak '06 and friend 38 Skip Sayers '49 knocking on his old dorm room 39 Jane Roth '91, Emma Smith Cain '09, and husband Peter Cain.

40 Cody Voellinger '01, Mike Heard '70, and Apolka Totth '95 41 Bernie Rosner '50 with wife, Jan and Lisa Holekamp 42 Edward Marks '05 43 Porky Pitts '61 pops into a recent TJ Greek class 44 Mason Um '18, Yi Zhong '16 and Rachel Hu '17 45 Lily Elfrink Maloney '06 with son Russell 46 Dave Messina '91 with fiancĂŠe Kendra Perry and Jack Linn '61

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Graham Marks '03, Eddie Marks '05, David German '04 with wife Jennifer Barry and Ken Colston 48 Gale and Al Schergen, Christine Horton, Kenny Shergen '16, and Tom Horton '16 49 Alison Feeney-Patten and Martha Feeney-Patten '98 with baby Audrey, David German '04. 50 Boaz and Jane '91 Roth, Ken Colston , Jo, Holloran 51 Num Pisutha-Arnond '88, wife Angie, and Jane Roth '91 52 Jack Linnn '61 treats some students to Steak n Shake 53 Joe Roth '87, Nick Sermchief '92, Thomas Dolan-Gavitt '08, John Powers '10, Me, Daanesh Chanwaadia, Joe Argus (former teacher) 54 Alan Wheeler '58 escorting his debutante Inga Tobiasz '18 at the Polonaise Ball 55 Lisa Holekamp, Porky Pitts '61, Marie De Jesus and Porky's wife, Elaine 56 Chanwool Kim '12, Karen Fairbank, Maheetha Bharadwaj '12 57 Jane Roth '91 and Michelle Ermatinger-Salas '08

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If you and your classmates would like to

Plan a Reunion we can help.

Contact Kathleen Kelly in the Development Office at kkelly@tjs.org.

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ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

Flowers in the Family Rebecca Bodicky ‘91 is brightening TJ events for the last two years. Rebecca owns Alice Blue Collective, which provides unique floral arrangements for restaurants, coffee shops, homes, weddings, and events in St. Louis, MO –including TJ events. Thanks Rebecca for sharing your talents with our community. www.alicebluecollective.com

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

The Alumni Board The 2017-2018 year began on July 1, 2017 and will end on June 30, 2018. There are 10 director positions on the TJ Alumni Board. For the 2017-2018 year, the directors are: President - Tom Ellis ‘83 Secretary - Jeffrey Smith ‘99 Treasurer - Artit Vibulakaopun ‘87 Chair of Alumni Development & Events Committee - Thomas Van Horn ‘14 Chair of Fundraising Committee - Ian Ermatinger-Salas ‘10 Chair of Technology Committee - David German ‘04 Chair of Editor & Content Committee - Les Proctor ‘81 Chair of Governance & Bylaws Committee - TBD Director from Last 4 TJ Graduation Classes - Tom Horton ‘16 Director Appointed by TJ - Marie DeJesus

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IN MEMORIAM

we bid farewell to those we lost in

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In Memoriam tj family we've lost through

Charles E. Merrill, Jr. As we were going to print with this edition of the Review, we received word of the passing of Charles E. Merrill, Jr. Charles was one of TJ’s founders and remained a tremendous champion of the school and its mission over the course of his long and illustrious life. He was a great educator, author, artist, philanthropist, and advocate for world peace and human rights.

Every time he visited TJ, he particularly relished interacting with students and took great pleasure in observing their extraordinary diversity. He was absolutely dedicated to ensuring that students from diverse backgrounds would have access to an excellent education, and initiated and supported scholarships to that end. For the past 20 years, TJ has been the beneficiary of Merrill largesse through the Eastern European Scholarship program, which currently supports students from Albania, Czech Republic, and Poland.

Many people affiliated with TJ hold cherished memories of Charles, and those stories will be solicited, gathered, and shared in due course.

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For now, today, we fondly acknowledge a man of great charm, intellect, talent, and generosity. He gave so much to TJ, over seven decades. He will never be forgotten.

We convey our heartfelt condolences and warmest regards to Charles’s wife Julie Boudreaux and the rest of the Merrill family.

Thomas Jefferson School will be celebrating Charles' life at a special memorial on May 5th. The times and details will be shared shortly. We are collecting stories and expressions of sympathy and appreciation that will be shared on that day.

Please email kfiala@tjs.org or kkelly@tjs.org and put MERRILL in the subject line or send via conventional mail to the attention of Kim Fiala at Thomas Jefferson School, 4100 S. Lindbergh Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63127.

Gifts may be made to Thomas Jefferson School in honor of Charles E. Merrill. .

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Charles E. Merrill, Jr. Tony Carlos 1947 Alejandro Lichauco 1947 Harold Colton 1948 Warren Frein 1948 John Pearson 1948 Weston Cain 1949 William Link 1949 Joseph Theis 1949 Loic Thiebault 1949 Sigmund Franczak 1950 Louis Hoppe 1950 James Pearson 1950 Fielding Sizer 1950 Richard Smith 1950 William Cox 1951 George Eagleton 1951 Shannon Francis 1951 Eduardo Lichauco 1951 John Patton 1951 Kenneth Rosenberg 1951 Jun Sakurai 1951 David Cox 1952 Anssi Karkinen 1952 Joseph Matthews 1952 Charles Worley 1952 Jay Bailey 1953 A. Kenneth Bernier 1953 James Weiffenbach 1953 Foster Francis 1954 James Matthews 1954 Lawrence Shannon 1954 Trent Sorenson 1954 Louis Strickland 1954 William Kerr 1956 David Ostrin 1956 James Sneed 1956 Richard Brumbaugh 1957 Jax Cowden 1957 Lamar Curtis 1957 Eric Johnson 1957 Allan Leibsohn 1957 Craig Parker 1957 Michael Strickland 1958 Lyman Johnson 1959 Larry Wendelken 1961 Peter Ferenczy 1962 Alan Tice 1962 Nord Smithberg 1967 Christopher Lindberg 1981 Robin Murray-O’Hair 1981 Charles Barnes 1984 Ann Manubay 1990 Kirk Prieb 1994 Ashley Hinds 1999 James Stoll 2000 Samuel Fisher 2001 the tj review

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Ann Manubay We are remembering Ann Manubay, who died peacefully on June 7, 2017. Countless friends gathered to celebrate Ann’s life at her St. Louis home on June 18, along with her wife Dabney Frake, parents Teodoro and Teresita Manubay, sister Stephanie Mathany, and extended family.

After graduating from Thomas Jefferson School in 1990, Ann attended Wellesley College, where she earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Women’s Studies and Sociology.

She later earned a Master’s Degree at the Harvard School of Education. Eight years ago, Ann and Dabney moved from Boston to St. Louis, where they could be closer to Ann’s parents, sister, and beloved niece and nephew.

Ann and Dabney traveled extensively. When in St. Louis, they regularly hosted a huge community of friends in their award-winning, beautifully renovated home in Tower Grove East, attracting a diverse, multi-generational group of artists, lawyers, musicians, designers, scientists, and others. Ann became a bit of a real-estate mogul and developed into an avid golfer with serious game.

Ann loved TJ, which was profoundly formative for her, along with her other alma mater, Wellesley. In March 2016, while having lunch with two former TJ teachers, Ann Spencer and Cindy Hood, she tweeted a picture of herself with them and the caption, “These two women had much to do with who I am today. Blame them.”

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by Aimée Dowl ‘92

would frequently tell stories about Vera Lane, who was TJ’s head cook for decades. As a student, she even wrote a Vera tribute song, which she and her classmates once sang on the Yellow House lawn (some say there is still a recording of the performance out there).

TJ was also important to her as a physical place. She adored the TJ gymnasium designed by William Bernoudy. She often referred to it as the Quonset hut, not knowing that is, in fact, a more artsy version of just that.

For Ann, TJ could also be a point of departure. Not too long ago, she laughed about having to sign out on a “blue card” (remember those?) for trips to Crown Candy Kitchen, as if seeking an egg salad sandwich in north St. Louis were an epic journey worthy of Homer.

I first met Ann when I was twelve years old, moving in next door to her in Red House. We were among the few seven-day boarders, and so we had a couple more days each week to bond, usually at Crestwood Mall. Little did we know that the Crestwood food court would be demolished one day, but we continued to go to Ted Drewes for frozen custard well into our forties.

I still have dozens of Ann’s letters, handwritten and posted over the long TJ breaks, in which she described a museum, concert, play, or road trip, or what she’d been reading lately. She continued to write from Wellesley, and later from Boston, and even later from St. Louis and trips to Asia and

Europe. The letters grew shorter as we got older, but Ann’s wit became that much more precise.

Ann often signed her name Ann P. Manubay, or in the fashion of late-’80s TJ, simply APM. Sometimes, she drew a little crown over the P. Many people don’t know that her middle name was Princess. I always loved the way that it stood for something she was and was not. Ann, of course, was a princess in the best sense. She was kind, sweet, and thoughtful - and a wonderful hostess. She was also no princess at all. She was tough and outspoken, living entirely on her own terms.

In 1990, she drew the TJ yearbook cover, depicting each student as a stick figure with unmistakable and affectionately bestowed attributes. She nailed every one of us, including herself, drafting each tiny persona in blue ink. It was Ann’s ability to render each of us as unique and special beings in the barest of forms that made her a TJ classic.

She appreciated beauty and intellect, and saw humor in practically everything.

Of those 60 stick figures, only 58 are still with us that I know of. It’s hard to imagine living in a world without Ann, who was my oldest and dearest friend. I didn’t expect to lose one of the best of us so soon.

Good night, sweet Princess.

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Spirit of Philanthropy We Are Grateful for Our Supporters Throughout the World!

AT THOMAS JEFFERSON SCHOOL, we are grateful to have the generous support of alumni, past and present families, friends, faculty, and staff as we pursue the mission of our school. Fundraising is vital to ensuring that TJ can continue to provide an extraordinary education to the students who live and study with us each day. Unrestricted gifts are used for scholarships, tuition assistance, and professional development, while most restricted gifts are for a specific scholarship fund or the endowment. To those who have contributed this past year, thank you.

Acworth Foundation, NY Elizabeth & James Agar, VA Benjamin & Priscille Albano Jr. '87, MO Joe Argus, CA James Asali '89, PA Stephen & Patricia Ashley '68, CA Angela Audet, MO Paul Azzara, MO Stephen & Lori Bacon, CA Frank & Lynette Ballard, MO Gang Bao & Ning Guo, China Anne Barenkamp, MO Michael Barry '94 & Meryl Perlman, IL Jule & Dianna Bartels, MO Lily Baumgarn, MO Dan Berebitsky, TX Michael Biggers, MO John & Penelope Biggs '54, NY Eric & Sandra Birch '59, NH Howard & Julia Blevins, MO Deepa Block '92, TX Ben Blount, OR Shannon Blount & Paul Royer, MO Donald & Marilyn Blum, MO Norman & Lynn Bodicky, MO Juan Boldizar '84 , IL Dennis & Karen Boone, MO Dale & Sue Bording, MO Dennis & Tamara Boyd, MO Steve Braun, MO Michael Broh & Stacy Wood, WI Ella Brown, MO Mark Brown & Heni Takacs, MO Patrick Brown & Anita Chastain, MO Steven & Caroline Chamberlin, MO Tullio Chersi '53, Italy Louie Chong & Yvonne Chein, MO Tony Chu & Rebecca Chastain, MO Carla Collins, MO Mike & Amanda Correa, MO

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Luke Corrigan '97, NY Edward & Mrs. Norina Coursey, FL David & Frederika Cox, '52 SC Kathleen Creed, MO Paul & Martha Cross, MO Joe & Mary Anne Crutchfield, MO Shaowei Dai, MO Charles Davlin '80, MD Marie De Jesus, MO Howard & Vickie Denson, MO Nathan Dixon '57, MO Tom & Betsy Douglass, MO Kevin Dwyer, '10, MO Michael Dwyer & Patricia Winchell, MO Ian Ermatinger-Salas, '10, IL Michelle Ermatinger-Salas '08, IN Neil & Kim Fiala, MO Anthony & Kimberly Franks, MO Ed & Gloria Franks, MI James & Fran Fulton, MO Daiming Gan & Aihua Bao, CHINA Jufu Gan & Yan Li, CHINA Mark & Marlene Gebhardt '66, CO David German '04 & Jennifer Barry, MA Karen Giovanoni, MO Tom & Trish Goldberg, MO Gary Goodman & Andrea Reuben, MO Sara Kushnick Gorfinkel '98, MD Hon. Thomas Griesa '48, NY April Griffin, MO Linda Guelbert, MO David Gustafson, MO Morin & Pina Hanson, MO Jack Hasler' 11, VA Charles Haynes '63, MI Michael Heard '70, CA Steven Held, IL Melvin & Annie Hicks, OH Maureen Hoessle, MO Elizabeth Holekamp, MO

Jimmy Holloran '03, IL Paul & LaDonna Hopkins, MO Peter & Christine Horton, MO Christian & Yana Hotter, MO Brian Howard, CA Campbell Howard '64, PA Tao Huang & Yi Xiang, China Dongsheng Hu & Yongling Lu, Australia Guangxun Hu & Tong Sha, China Elizabeth Human, MO Anna Irby, MO James Jekel '52, PA Pamela Jenkins, MO Kyeong Rae Jo & Sung Hee Park, Korea Michael & Elizabeth Johnson '67, IL Raymond & Linda Johnson,'55, TX Deok Youg Jung & Dong Ju Yo, Korea Kathleen Kelly, MO Chino Kim '85, MO Eugene Kornblum '53, MO Feng Kou & Dufei Shi, China Gopal Krishnan, MO Gerald Landrum, MO Maureen Langlois & Jeffrey Burghauser, OH H.Lee & Susan Holman, CT Leni Lee, CA Noyel Lee & Young Sun Ju, Korea Yoon Ho Lee & Jae-Yeon Kim, Korea Richard & Joanne Levy '63, IL Bin Li & Chun Pan, MO Yuan Dong Lin & Ping Li, China Douglass Lind '57, FL Jack Linn '61, NY Robert Lippert, IL Dan Little '61, OK David London '71, OK Guiglio & Kathleen Lopolito, MA Paul & Crystal Lopolito, MO Christine Lottes, MO

Harrison & Valerie Luvai, MO Chunshou Ma & Tian Xie, China Chandan & Banti Mahanta, MO Michael & Mary Malast, MO Ann Manubay '90, MO Michael Margulus '61, MI Edward Marks '05, CA Loren & Bess Marshall Wylie & Ann McGlothlin, IN Robert & Nancy Mehler '55, CO Jeffrey Meikle '71, TX Robert Mendelsohn '67, CA Charles Merrill Jr. & Julie Boudreaux, MA Dennis & Linda Mertz, MO David Messina '92, MO Mary Messina, MT Paul Messina '61, IL James & Virginia Moffett '59, MO Larry & Nancy Morgan '53, AZ M.R. Metzger Family Foundation, NY Kati Murman '99, NE Desmond & Tamera Nanton, MO Abhi Nemani '06, IL Jim & Sherry Noonan, MO Michael North '83, DC Northwestern Mutual, NJ Ohrn Family Foundation, MA Greg Oldham '70 & Anne Taliferro, OR Hank & Kim Panethiere, MO Martha Feeney Patten '98, MA Audrey Pavelka-Metcalf '07, MO James Pesek '99, MO Jon Pesek '96 & Jyothi Varnasi '97, IN Gwen Phanijphand '97, IL Heidi Pieroni, MO Num Pisutha-Arnond '88, MO Beverly & Elaine Pitts '61, CO Hans Plickert '51, CT Ann & Carl Polster, MO Gregory Ponstingl '01, CA W I N T E R

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Robin & Elisa Pritchett, MO Les Proctor '81, OH Steven Puro, MO Karthik Raghaven, MO David Reiter '79, AZ Bernat & Jan Rosner '50, CA Richard & Elizabeth Ross '78, NC Boaz & Jane Roth '91, MO Miriam Roth, MO William & Margaret Rowe '63, MO Angela Salas, IN Paul & Lucinda Santiago, MO John Sappington MO Clifford & Gail Saxton, MO Al & Gail Schergen, MO David & Andrea Schmiemeier, MO Jake Schneider '00, NY Schnucks, MO Thomas Schoenborn & Judy Glynn, IL Eugene Shepp '47, IL Micheal & Laurie Shornick, MO Amazon Smile Kim & Kathy Smith, MO Rayman Soloman '64, PA Timothy & Patricia Soncasie, MO Michael Stafford '66, SC James & Susan Stepleton, MO Alexander Stevens '81, MA Charles & Kaisa Stucke, MO Alisa Tang, '92 Thailand Frances Taormina, FL Josh & Jeanne Taylor '57, GA William & Sandra Thayer '54, MI Kara Olsen Theiding '87, CA Terry & Margie Thomure, MO TJ Parent Association, MO Apolka Totth '95, CA Matt & Ashley Troutman, MO Adaobi Ukabam '95, NJ Thomas Van Horn '14, MO Ed & Linda VanVoorhees '71, TN Cody Voellinger '01, CA Randy & Elisa Wang, MO James Weiffenbach '53, MD (deceased) David & Ellen Weingold, AR David & Susan West, MO Paul & Patricia Weston '52, IL Alan Wheeler '58, MO Annie White, MO Irving Williamson '61 DC Keith Williamson '70, MO Zoe Wodarz '95, MN Allison Wofsey-Symonds '06, OR Campbell & Sondra Wood, FL Adam & Ana Woodard, MO Marilyn Woodard, MO Stephen Woodard, MO Daa & Amy Xiao, CA Jutian Xu & Xueqin Zhang, China Chengtian Yan '15, TN Ann & Elizabeth Young, MO Yongqing Yu & Cheng Gong, China

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CUM LAUDE SOCIETY $10,000 OR MORE Acworth Foundation, NY John & Penelope Biggs '54, NY Julie Boudreaux, MA Hon. Thomas Griesa '48, NY Richard & Joanne Levy '63, IL Charles Merrill Jr

MONTICELLO SOCIETY $5,000 OR MORE M.R. Metzger Family Foundation, NY James & Virginia Moffett '59, MO

PAN CIRCLE $1000 OR MORE Benjamin & Priscille Albano Jr. '87, MO Stephen & Patricia Ashley '68, CA Michael Biggers, MO Eric & Sandra Birch '59, NH Donald & Marilyn Blum Mark Brown & Heni Takacs, MO David & Frederika Cox, '52 SC Michael Dwyer & Patricia Winchell, MO David German '04 & Jennifer Barry, MA Gary Goodman & Andrea Reuben, MO Elizabeth Holekamp, MO Michael & Elizabeth Johnson '67, IL Raymond & Linda Johnson,'55, TX Kathleen Kelly, MO Chino Kim '85, MO Eugene Kornblum '53, MO Gopal Krishnan, MO Noyel Lee & Young Sun Ju, Korea Bin Li & Chun Pan, MO Yuan Dong Lin & Ping Li, China Dan Little '61, OK Chunshou Ma & Tian Xie, China Ann Manubay '90, MO Loren & Bess Marshall David Messina '92, MO Paul Messina '61, IL Ohrn Family Foundation, MA Beverly & Elaine Pitts '61, CO Karthik Raghaven, MO Richard & Elizabeth Ross '78, NC Paul & Lucinda Santiago, MO John Sappington MO Skip '49 and Connie Sayers, FL Al & Gail Schergen, MO Rayman Soloman '64, PA James & Susan Stepleton, MO David & Ellen Weingold, AR Alan Wheeler '58, MO Adam & Ana Woodard, MO Jutian Xu & Xueqin Zhang, China

FOUNDERS CLUB $500 OR MORE Stephen & Lori Bacon, CA Gang Bao & Ning Guo, China Michael Barry '94 & Meryl Perlman, IL Dennis & Karen Boone, MO Patrick Brown & Anita Chastain, MO

Joe & Mary Anne Crutchfield, MO Marie De Jesus, MO Tom & Trish Goldberg, MO Jimmy Holloran '03, IL Leni Lee, CA Harrison & Valerie Luvai, MO Michael & Mary Malast, MO Edward Marks '05, CA Jeffrey Meikle '71, TX Dennis & Linda Mertz, MO Larry & Nancy Morgan '53, AZ Abhi Nemani '06, IL Greg Oldham '70 & Anne Taliferro, OR Num Pisutha-Arnond '88, MO Bernat & Jan Rosner '50, CA William & Margaret Rowe '63, MO Clifford & Gail Saxton, MO Eugene Shepp '47, IL Alexander Stevens '81, MA Charles & Kaisa Stucke, MO Josh & Jeanne Taylor '57, GA Adaobi Ukabam '95, NJ Irving Williamson '61 DC Keith Williamson '70, MO

THE TITANS 1ST TIME DONORS OF $50 Tony Chu & Rebecca Chastain, MO Carla Collins, MO Ed & Gloria Franks, MI Daiming Gan & Aihua Bao, China Tao Huang & Yi Xiang, China Pamela Jenkins, MO Desmond & Tamera Nanton, MO David Reiter '79, AZ Hank & Kim Panethiere, MO Frances Taormina, FL Campbell & Sondra Wood, FL

HONORING OUR TJ FAMILY

Guiglio & Kathleen Lopolito in honor Rosie Lopolito '20 Loren & Bess Marshall in honor of Trevor Marshall '13 Wylie & Ann McGlothlin in honor of Andrew D. McGlothlin '98 Ann & Carl Polster in honor of Ethan Chamberlin '21 Miriam Roth in honor of Liat '17 & Sela '21 Roth Frances Taormina in honor of Michael Hanson '22 Annie White in honor of Rosie Lopolito '20 Campbell & Sondra Wood in honor of Joshua Broh '19 Marilyn Woodard in honor of Bennett Woodard '18 Stephen Woodard in honor of Bennett Woodard '18

REMEMBERING THOSE DEAR TO US Joe & Mary Anne Crutchfield in memory of Robert Shornick Maureen Hoesslein memory of Robert Shornick Guangxun Hu & Tong Sha in memory of Lisa Fiala Tao Huang & Yi Xiang in memory of Lisa Fiala Noyel Lee & Young Sun Ju in memory of Lisa Fiala Yoon Ho Lee & Jae-Yeon Kim in memory of Lisa Fiala Timothy & Patricia Soncasie in memory of Robert Shornick Ann & Elizabeth Young in memory of Robert Shornick

Frank & Lynette Ballard in honor of Liat '17 & Sela '21 Roth Howard & Julia Blevins in honor of Grayson '18 & Braden '20 West Ben Blount in honor of River Blount '21 Donald & Marilyn Blum in honor of Jane Pesek Anita Chastain & Patrick Brown in honor of Max Chu '20 Edward & Mrs. Norina Coursey in honor of Jeremy Boyd '17 Paul & Martha Cross in honor of Rosemary Pelch ' 13 Ed & Gloria Franks in honor of Peyton Franks '21 Melvin & Annie Hicks in honor of Peyton Franks ' 21 Anna Irby in honor of William Irby '20 Pamela Jenkins in honor of Caitlyn Collins '22 Gerald Landrum in honor of Maisie '17 & Luca '21 Pritchett

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BY DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT,

KATHLEEN KELLY

At the beginning of this school year we heard from Senior Sara Halili about the impact the Charles E. Merrill, Jr. Eastern European Scholarship has had on her life.

TJ'S CURRENT ACTIVE SCHOLARSHIPS FUNDS:

We listened as she told the story of moving back to Albania and being worried that her dreams of a great education and successful career were vanishing. Being selected as a recipient of the Eastern European Scholarship restored that hope for her and today Sara has applied to various universities all over the United States. This was all made possible through generous donations to the TJ Annual Fund.

David G. ‘52 and David Van Vleck Cox Scholarship

THE TJ FUND has been supporting our students’ dreams of an excellent education for decades, through financial assistance and scholarships. We know that when our classrooms are filled with brilliant and diverse minds EVERYONE benefits. It’s what makes our school so unique.

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Charles E. Merrill, Jr. Eastern European Scholarship The Delores Heytman Scholarhsip

The Jefferson Scholarship Robin McCoy Hispanic Scholarship However, over 40% of students at TJ receive some level of support, so restricting your gift to a specific scholarship is not necessary.

What is important is to participate so we grow the annual fund, and thereby provide a TJ education to those who need and deserve it. Please take a moment and read the stories of two more scholarship recipients.

Thank you for your consideration.

-Kathleen Kelly W I N T E R

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David G. ‘52 and David Van Vleck Cox Scholarship The story goes like this: In spring 2001, my mother walked into a Missouri court room and signed away everything she had -- including a large house, farmland, and expensive farm equipment -- in order to ensure full custody of her three sons against the wishes of an abusive ex-husband.

Six months later I began my seventh grade year at TJ. As you can imagine, moving from my family’s farming community in Montgomery County, Missouri, to TJ’s mock Tudor estate was a shock to me both socially and money-wise.

Somehow my mother afforded my first year’s tuition, though my ability to remain enrolled was constantly threatened. I remember my mother calling Marie DeJesus and frantically offering the landscaping services of my estranged father (can you believe that?) in exchange for a reduction in tuition -- This “barter” was denied.

During my first two years at TJ, I was a five-day boarder. Each weekend, my mother would threaten to pull me from TJ if my grades did not improve. I knew that this threat only had a little to do with my grades: Her implicit concern was whether TJ’s

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“classical education” was worth the steep cost if I wouldn’t do the work to her satisfaction.

(Never mind that my grades were always at or near honors, and that I was by then stage managing for all the school’s plays!). My mother worked hard to come up with the money to keep me enrolled at TJ, despite her threats, and I remained.

" This all changed one day when I received a phone call in my room: Would I come to Main Building to meet an alumnus?

" Without preamble I was introduced to Mr. David Cox, an older but not yet elderly man who shook my hand and -- just like my mother -- asked me how my grades were coming along. I told him that my grades weren’t excellent, but that I was involved in a lot of worthwhile extra-curricular activities.

What I came to appreciate the most about Mr. Cox was that, although he asked the same question as my mother always did, his was the opposite response.

Apparently, and unbeknown to me, this had been my first interview with the man who would become my very own Dickensian

benefactor. After I left D.J.’s office and went back to class, Mr. Cox cut a check for my tuition -- as he continued to do each year until my graduation in 2007.

Each year, this brief ritual would reoccur: A handshake and a check. Each year, he paid for my tuition in full. Eventually -- I don’t remember when -- I learned that Mr. Cox had himself attended TJ and had been raised by a single mother. Once he had “made his money,” he decided to give back to TJ by supporting others in great financial need.

When I recently visited TJ to attend graduation (and, in a way, celebrate my 10th reunion), I asked after Mr. Cox’s health and was saddened to learn of his passing.

Therefore I would like to ask you to consider contributing to the ongoing Cox Scholarship fund so that other students who would otherwise be unable to attend TJ have the chance to thrive there as I did.

I graduated. Years have passed. I would never have moved to Chicago and attended the University of Chicago without Mr. Cox’s financial support. His great charity allowed me to thrive at TJ without constant fear of eviction.

Thank you, Mr. Cox, for your support of TJ and its more vulnerable students.

- JOHN HARNESS ‘07 W I N T E R

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Robin McCoy Hispanic Scholarship My father always encouraged me to follow my dreams since I was a little kid. He was not only a bright man, but he taught me a lesson I still remember nowadays: The good things in life always have a high price, but with effort and sacrifice, you can achieve whatever you want. I was just a little kid but I began applying that lesson at a very young age, like the time I participated in a series of contests that took me to meet the president of my country, Mexico. When I focused on my education, I realized that the best opportunities for me were abroad. I told my father about my desire to study in the United States someday, and he was pleased to see I was growing to follow my dreams.

I even got into a very good boarding school managed by Korean people in my city, which I expected would give me a better shot at accomplishing my dreams. I was in seventh grade then and I had the hope that things would go well.

It was rather unexpected when I received the news that my father had been diagnosed with cancer, when I was twelve. I was shocked a few months later when my father passed away. It was really hard for me, and I grieved for a long time, but in time, I began wondering what my future would be. Both of my older sisters were still studying in college, and since my family was well accommodated where I lived, the idea of sending me abroad seemed to fade away; we simply could not afford that.

However, I met a family from the States that told me about TJ. I heard the school offered a scholarship that was awarded to students of Hispanic heritage, and in that moment, I knew I had found the opportunity I was looking for. So I decided to email the Giving to the is easy: Director of Admissions asking 1) Mail a check to 4100 S. Lindbergh Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63127 for more information about the 2) Call and make a credit card donation over the phone. 314-843-4151 school.

I began learning English at a very young age, when I was basically forced by my parents, but slowly, I came to manage the language.

TJ Fund

3) Go to tjs.org and click the Support TJ tab.

TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT FINANCIAL AID AT TJ, VISIT: tjs.org/admissions/tuition-financial-aid/

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In the Spring of 2016, I had the opportunity to come to St. Louis for the wedding of a cousin. My cousin’s mother-

in-law arranged a date for me to visit TJ, and when I met the school, all the doubts I had disappeared. This was what I wanted.

" The next thing I knew I was submitting my application, and neither my mother nor I believed it when, a few months later, I was awarded with The Robin McCoy Hispanic Scholarship.

" I did not have the pleasure of meeting Mr. McCoy, but I could not be more thankful towards him and the benefactor of the scholarship in his name. I have been having the best time of my life here, and the mark of this incredible support will never be erased from my life. Now, I look to the future, to the good things I want to achieve in life, and I have hope, because I know that my father’s lesson is true: I’ve learned that there are people like Mr. McCoy and all those donors that support this scholarship, whose own legacy is helping a total stranger follow his dreams.

- LUIS CASTELLANOS ‘20

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The TJ Review THOMAS JEFFERSON SCHOOL 2017-2018 MAGAZINE

Editor Kathleen Kelly Director of Development Graphic Design Brad Glotfelty Loose Cannon Design Print Production Kopytek, Inc. Photographers Aurélie Clément-Bayard Iris Photographers Steve Held Kathleen Kelly Lisa Melching TJ Photography students Yana Hotter and Spoonful of Sugar Photography Please send change of address to: THOMAS JEFFERSON SCHOOL 4100 S. Lindbergh Blvd.

St. Louis, MO 63127 Phone: 314.843.4151 Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m.- 4:00 p.m. CST Fax: 314.843.3527 © Copyright 2018 Thomas Jefferson School

Need more information? Have additional questions?

Please contact our admissions office.

314.843.4151 Ext. 2340 admissions@tjs.org

CONNECT WITH TJ

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www.tjs.org

An Unmatched Tradition 4100 South Lindbergh Blvd.

St. Louis, MO 63127

tjs.org Founded by scholars for scholars

SAVE-THE-DATE

2018 FEB. 17

Cabaret Night

There is nothing better than when the TJ

FEB. 23

Senior Night

community joins together in celebration. Here

MAY 4

Lawrence A. Morgan Lecture Series

are a few dates to put on your calendar. Contact

MAY 5

Memorial for Charles E. Merrill, Jr.

the school for more details and let us know you

MAY 11

Spring Art/Taste of TJ

are coming!

MAY 24/25

8th Grade Play

JUNE 2

Alumni Reunion in St. Louis

JUNE 3

Graduation